Militarily, China has not been well-known for its navy. The army has long been the dominant service in the People's Republic of China (PRC), a country celebrating the 60th anniversary of its founding by Mao Zedong in 1949.

In fact, despite being known as the "Great Helmsman," Mao was so focused on the army after taking power that it was not until 1953 that he made his first tour of the Chinese navy, spending four days visiting a pair of frigates.

But the once-ignored People's Liberation Army Navy is chiseling off the rust, slapping on a fresh coat of paint — and going to sea like never before.

The navy is showing the flag in Asia and around the world. In celebration of its 60th anniversary, the PLAN held a colorful naval review this spring in Qingdao, which included 25 of its own ships and another 20 from 15 other countries.

But do not be fooled by the pomp and circumstance of ship visits and naval reviews. This is not about vanity. China is serious about its standing in the world and its maritime interests — and it is developing a navy to advance and protect both.

Indeed, the Pentagon reports: "PRC President Hu Jintao called China a 'sea power' and advocated a 'powerful people's navy' to 'uphold our maritime rights and interests' " in a 2006 speech.

U.S. ships have already seen some of this up close and personal.

Hainan Hassles

Just two weeks after the Pentagon described the first U.S.-China military-to-military talks as the best ever, Chinese vessels confronted an American ship operating in international waters in the South China Sea.

The affair was eerily reminiscent of the 2001 EP-3 incident, in which a Chinese fighter came too close to a U.S. Navy reconnaissance plane, ultimately colliding with it, leading to the brief imprisonment of the U.S. crew and causing a major diplomatic dust-up. In this case, Beijing dispatched five fishing vessels to shadow and intimidate the unarmed U.S. Military Sealift Command research ship Impeccable, which was conducting operations about 75 miles off Hainan Island, where the crippled EP-3 ultimately landed. The flotilla threw timbers in the path of Impeccable, coming within 25 feet of the U.S. ship before finally backing off. The Chinese vessels also tried to snag its towed sonar array.

Fortunately, no shots were fired in anger, other than some high-pressure fire hoses by the American side, likely concerned the Chinese sailors might try to board the ship despite the fact that it was operating outside Beijing's national waters.

China claims Impeccable was violating its sovereignty by conducting operations within the PRC's 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone as identified under the United Nations' 1982 Law of the Sea Treaty. The treaty, of course, does not give Beijing the right to veto activities outside its 12-nautical-mile territorial waters, but does give it the right to object to certain economic undertakings in its EEZ, such as drilling for oil and gas or fishing.

Beijing does not see it that way. While a sea treaty signatory, it claimed an exception upon entering into the treaty, claiming that territorial waters and the EEZ are sovereign.

The Chinese also harassed an Impeccable sister ship, Victorious, about the same time using similar tactics, while it was conducting operations in the Yellow Sea. There have now been at least five such incidents between U.S. and Chinese vessels off the PRC's coast.

Red flags are also being raised about China's expanding global interests and the role of the PLAN in it.

Global Goals

In congressional testimony this year, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair said Beijing's international behavior is driven by, among other things, a "longstanding ambition to see China play a role of a great power in East Asia and globally."

In other words, it is not just about Taiwan anymore.

Sure, deterring or preventing a Taiwanese declaration of independence or forcing unification by military means with its cross-Taiwan Strait island rival is still front and center of Chinese foreign and defense policy. But Chinese leaders are beginning to look well beyond Taiwan. China, long a land power, is becoming increasingly dependent on the use of the sea for its economic and political influence, making a strong navy a prerequisite for meeting national goals.

While China is still conducting traditional military operations and drills in the surrounding South and East China seas, according to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), it is paying increasing attention to disputed energy fields and activities in its EEZ.

This comes as no surprise as China, now the world's third-largest economy after the U.S. and Japan, continues its laserlike focus on growing its economy, which includes access to the resources along its periphery. But that will not be sufficient, considering China is now heavily dependent on the seaborne export of finished goods and the import of natural resources for production that have allowed the PRC to chalk up 10 percent growth rates for a decade now.

For instance, China must also be able to patrol and defend sea lines of communications, such as transporting energy resources from Africa and the Middle East, which requires transits of the broad Indian Ocean and the narrow Malacca Strait, an important Southeast Asian maritime chokepoint. (Eighty-five percent of China's imported oil comes through the Malacca Strait.)

It's not surprising then that Blair, a former Pacific commander, told Congress: "China's national security interests are broadening. This will likely lead China to attempt to develop at least a limited naval projection capability extending beyond the South China Sea."

It has already started on some "soft" power projection. Reminiscent of Roosevelt's Great White Fleet, Beijing sends ships around the world to show the flag and generate good will, including a 12,000-mile jaunt to St. Petersburg, Russia, in 2007. It also displays China's new sense of confidence and power.

But China is also employing some hard power. Beijing deployed a small flotilla to the Gulf of Aden on an anti-piracy patrol in December, marking China's first out-of-area deployment. Not surprisingly, to support China's interests abroad, the PLAN is undergoing a significant military modernization based on a new naval strategy. The Pentagon's annual congressional report on Chinese military power asserts that Beijing's maritime strategy is evolving beyond "offshore active defense," which calls for coastal operations out to the first island chain (i.e., Japan-Taiwan-Indonesia).

Far Sea Defense

The new strategy is "far sea defense," which puts a premium on "multidimensional precision attacks beyond the first island chain and outside of China's EEZ to defend PRC national interests," adding a layer of strategic depth, according to the Pentagon.

Not every Chinese analyst is a fan of this more forward-leaning strategy, believing it will raise China's profile in an unflattering way, causing major powers such as the U.S., Japan and India to hedge and balance against China. But regardless, many experts believe the PRC is developing a navy which can effect sea denial within the first island chain, while also conducting anti-access operations, holding opponents at risk as far out as the second island chain, i.e., as far east as Guam.

DIA director Lt. Gen. Michael Maples told Congress this winter: "China is developing a layered maritime capability with medium-range anti-ship ballistic missiles, submarines, maritime strike aircraft and surface combatants armed with increasingly sophisticated anti-ship missiles."

Of particular concern is the new conventionally armed anti-ship ballistic missiles based on the CSS-5 airframe, which has...