The Chinese Navy Chief was in the U.S. last fall to attend a massive naval conference in Rhode Island. During this conference U.S. China relations was a topic of topic of interest due to the massive expansion of China’s Navy. Interestingly, the Chinese Navy Chief wants to expand U.S. China exchange programs in order to enhance the competence of Chinese Navy members. This may be beneficial for the Chinese, but I don’t see the immediate benefit to educating another nations Navy that could potentially expand to be larger than that of the U.S.
The United States has started to become a little concerned with how rapidly the Chinese navy has been expanding. Since the new Navy Chief has taken office many progressions have been made. China’s first aircraft carrier has been built, many submarines have been deployed to areas in the Pacific and Indian oceans, but most concerning is the fact that China has been building artificial islands in contested waters near their borders. The U.S. Navy currently dominates the Asia but China’s expansion is posing a threat.
Source: http://www.wsj.com/articles/as-china-expands-its-navy-the-u-s-grows-wary-1427769002
Picture 1: http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/P1-BT180_CNAVY_9U_20150330161816.jpg
Picture 2: http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-HQ931_CNAVY0_M_20150330214210.jpg
U.S.’s concern is understandable. Recently, China has been explicitly expressed to South Korea about opposition in its installment of THHAD. It has already sparked the military tension between China, U.S. and its allies. Moreover, China’s reluctance to have U.S. as an economic player in Asia can be shown in military sector as well.
Having high-ranking officers involved in exchanges helps prevent misunderstandings. That may not help at the political level — in the 1930s and 1940s politicians in Japan didn’t want to hear what the Imperial Navy had to say. But it does help to understand enough of the chain of command to know who to call where there’s an operational-level errors, such as a Japanese ship bumping up against a Chinese one, or a Chinese fighter pilot clipping the wing of a US observation plane (the fighter pilot died, the Americans made a safe emergency landing). Or a US sub surfacing under and sinking a Japanese fishing vessel…