Scottish Centre for China Research

Abstract

This seminar will examine the trajectory of China’s naval power and ambitions in the post-Cold War era. It will explain how the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has transformed from a backward force operating a wide range of obsolete platforms into a force that is now larger than the US Navy and capable of rivaling it at the regional level. The seminar will explore the scope of Chinese ambitions in the Indo-Pacific, from the control of China’s ‘near seas’ to the security of major maritime arteries carrying Chinese trade. Finally, it will discuss the risk of conflict and escalation at sea in the context of rising great power rivalries in the region.

Speaker Biography

Dr. Yves-Heng Lim is a Senior Lecturer in Security Studies at the Department of Security Studies and Criminology, Macquarie University. His research focuses on the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific, the evolution of China’s strategy, with a particular interest for China’s naval strategy, and international relations theory (realism and power transition theory). Yves-Heng is author of China’s Naval  Power: an Offensive Realist Approach (Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, 2014) and of more than twenty peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. His works appeared in The Journal of Strategic Studies, The Journal of Contemporary China, Contemporary Strategy, and Asian Security. Yves-Heng has been the Learning and Teaching Coordinator/Director of Education and Employability for SSC since 2016. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.