China at the Geopolitical Crossroads: The Construction of Sea Power

China is widely recognized as a civilization with an extensive land power, and its background as a maritime civilization has long been overlooked. This chapter delves into pivotal shifts in China’s maritime strategy over the years, analyzing both historical developments and current Chinese maritime policies. By comparing the past with the present, we explore China’s transition from a primarily defensive offshore strategy to a proactive maritime strategy. We also investigate the historical context and contemporary factors that have propelled this shift in China’s foreign maritime policy. Furthermore, this chapter introduces China’s ongoing choice between land and sea power, outlines its current goals in becoming a formidable maritime nation, and dissects the facets of this strategic transformation, along with the driving forces behind it. At this strategic crossroads, China is attempting to maintain its ability to be a hybrid land–sea power by allocating core strategic resources to the construction and strengthening of sea power to ameliorate its weakness in this domain not only with respect to economic development but also long-term territorial sovereignty and national security (Sheng, L. [2016]. Explaining the transformation of urban island politics: The case of Macau. Island Studies Journal, 11(2), 521–536).