China has built a 400-ship navy in what historians say is the swiftest development of sea power since the United States assembled its armada after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor during World War II.
But warships are just part of the story.
In addition to fielding the world’s largest navy, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has dramatically increased its ship-building capacities, owns or operates more than 90 port operations in 53 nations, has built an 8,000-ship merchant fleet second only to Greece, and has massively invested in oceanographic research, including “deep water stations” on the sea floor.
With the CCP seemingly steaming for a showdown with the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet in the Taiwan Straits and South China Sea, ship-building capabilities, port capacities, and oceanographic research are suddenly among the Pentagon’s priorities because, right now, America no longer has the maritime capacity to match China in cargo transport and in laying hulls for new ships….