Xingxing Wang and Jiyong Zheng, “Analysis of the Relations between Chinese Aircraft Carriers and the Maritime Order of the South China Sea”, The Korean Journal of Defense Analysis, Vol. 34, No. 3, September 2022, 433－452, DOI: https://doi.org/10.22883/kjda.2022.34.3.005

Abstract: China has gradually shifted its geopolitical focus from land-based control to seabased developments out of both security and economic considerations. Marked by the official launch of its aircraft carriers a decade ago, China has dedicated resources to building up its navy as a blue water force rather than the offshore defensive force that it had primarily been until that point. Meanwhile, by serving as the pillar of sea power, these aircraft carriers will play more important roles in China’s naval development, ultimately reshaping the global strategic picture of sea power. This article aims to explore the influence of Chinese aircraft carriers to maritime order of the South China Sea and strategic pattern of global sea power by analyzing the Chinese aircraft carrier fleet’s operational design and the reconstruction of China’s naval strategy. The presence of Chinese aircraft carriers in the South China Sea and their inherent combat capabilities has inevitably casted a subversive light on the region and brought the attention of the United States’ and other regional actors’ own activities and strategies for the region. This research has great significance for understanding China's grand strategic conception and practice on the South China Sea issue as well as the construction of a new maritime order in the context of China–U.S. competition.

Keywords: sea power, navy, aircraft carriers, South China Sea, Indo–Pacific, maritime governance, China, China–U.S. competition, island chains