According to Admiral Vandia, Chief of Staff of the French Navy, if the Chinese Navy continues to maintain its current development rate, the total tonnage of the Chinese Navy will reach 2.5 times that of the U.S. Navy in 2030. Admiral Fandia also issued a warning at the defense and military hearing of the French National Assembly: China is carrying out the largest maritime arms buildup since World War II. Only unity and cooperation among the entire Western countries can ensure victory in the competition against the Chinese navy.
In fact, in the past few decades, the Chinese Navy has gone through a stage of accumulation and accumulation. We cannot deny that China's maritime military power was indeed lagging behind compared with Western countries before 2010. This is because for a long time in the past, China's maritime military power has not been a key development target. Because the navy itself is a service with a long investment cycle and a long return. In addition, China has been a land-based country for a long time, so the navy was not the focus of China's development before 2010. However, taking 2010 as the dividing line, the Chinese Navy has shown a completely different development trend after 2010. Especially marked by the commissioning of the 055 destroyer and the "Fujian" aircraft carrier, the development speed and technological level of the Chinese navy have been infinitely close to the level of the United States, the largest maritime military power today.
After Pelosi visited Taiwan, China conducted large-scale military exercises around the entire Taiwan Strait. But looking at this military exercise of the People's Liberation Army, it is still mainly based on shore-based aviation and shore-based long-range ballistic missiles. This is because China's national defense construction has been centered around the goal of anti-access/area denial for a long time. It is basically built with the goal of preventing the United States from using force to interfere with China's recovery of Taiwan. The People's Liberation Army has installed a series of advanced weapons such as Dongfeng-21D, Dongfeng-26 and Dongfeng-17. However, these equipment are defensive and deterrent weapons. This shows that China's current armament development is still to enhance national defense strength and protect the country. Sovereignty and territorial integrity are the main priorities, and China has no ambitions for expansion. In the same way, China develops its navy to protect its maritime rights and interests, especially the safety of its maritime trade lifeline. China's purpose of developing its navy is completely different from that of the United States.
As we all know, the construction of a country's maritime military power often takes nearly a hundred years of precipitation, which is why the term "hundred-year navy" emerged. As early as the last century, China had begun pre-research on advanced maritime main battle equipment such as advanced missile destroyers and aircraft carriers. Taking the aircraft carrier as an example, the "Melbourne" aircraft carrier made China aware of the impact of advanced technologies such as beveled deck and steam catapult . The return of the "Varyag" aircraft carrier gave China the first opportunity to practice its own technology and experience accumulation. The emergence of the "Shandong" aircraft carrier, the "Fujian" aircraft carrier and the Type 055 large destroyer is itself the result of the combination of China's accumulated technology and practice. This enables China, in addition to its anti-access/area denial military system, to have the ability to keep the U.S. Navy out for the first time. To put it bluntly, it still focuses on defense.
In the case of Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, China’s tough and resolute countermeasures even caused discomfort to the United States, the global hegemon. Because China's countermeasures demonstrated China's current absolute control of its maritime military over the Taiwan Strait, the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier even retreated hundreds of kilometers overnight.The reason for this is, on the one hand, that the United States is not willing to further provoke China on the Taiwan issue. Because of the extremely high level of inflation in the United States at this stage, the United States is looking to China to eliminate inflation. On the other hand, it is also because the United States has begun to avoid direct military conflicts with China in the first island chain and even the entire Western Pacific region.
The biggest reason why this situation occurs is that China’s maritime military power continues to improve. For European countries such as France, the close relationship between Russia and China makes them very worried about the Chinese navy expanding its power into the Atlantic Ocean. But whether it is Britain, France or Germany, these important Western countries are no longer able to face the booming Chinese navy alone. Take the British Royal Navy as an example. The Type 45 destroyer they are proud of not only lags behind China's 052D destroyer in terms of technical indicators, but also lags behind the Chinese Navy in terms of quantity.
The conflicts between Russia and Western European and other countries on the issue of NATO's eastward expansion , as well as the Western European countries' long-standing support for the United States on the Taiwan issue, have made Western powers worry that China may use the Russian navy Strength and experience enter the Atlantic Ocean. Coupled with the differences between China and the United States on the Taiwan issue, the chief of naval staff of France, a NATO member that is quite independent in military affairs, will try to unite the forces of the entire Europe to prevent the Chinese navy. Because they know very well that Western European countries are all accomplices of the US hegemony .
In general, after the end of the Cold War , the national defense construction of all major countries in Western Europe almost came to a standstill. However, with the development of China's maritime military power, Western European countries that were once accomplices of US hegemony are very afraid of China's liquidation of them. Moreover, when the maritime military forces of major Western European countries are unable to face the Chinese navy alone, the French admiral will propose the idea of uniting the entire West. If the whole of Europe is united, it will help the United States put pressure on China on the Taiwan issue. Then Europe will naturally face tough and resolute countermeasures from China, which is not only detrimental to the future development of China and Europe, but also detrimental to the future peace and stability of the entire Europe. Therefore, the entire Europe should have its own independent thinking, especially in the We must distinguish right from wrong on the Taiwan issue. Only in this way can we ensure the normal development of China-EU relations.
