Strategies Of Strong Marine Powers And Their Inspiration On China

A country prospers if it values ocean and declines if it belittle ocean. Ocean hasplayed a significant role in human life since ancient times. In modern era， with theexploration of marine oil and gas resources and the emergence of marine mining，ocean becomes humankind’s new hope of resources after land. Ocean not only boastsabundant mining deposits， but also assumes great transportation volume. In today’seconomy-globalized world， ocean links the world together， exerting profoundinfluence on each nation’s politics， economy， national defense， etc. after sufferinghumiliation for a century， China is marching forward on the road to greatrejuvenation. It is an inevitable course to figure out how to control and make use ofmarine resources and what strategies to implement so as to build a strong marinepower.In retrospect， influenced by the policy “closing the border”， China only tookocean as the defense of territory， with strong preference of land to ocean. Afterentering the20thcentury， capitalist countries like America first realized theimportance of ocean， and then carried out distinctive strategies of strengthening thecountry by making use of ocean. Among them， America， Japan， and Canada arethree countries along the ocean， whose strategies will provide reference to thepromotion of our country’s ocean undertakings. Starting form navy， America hasconstantly strengthened its “hard” military power and played a key role in theconstruction of international marine order； it has also reinforced its “soft” power andmeanwhile vigorously develop national marine science and technology and marineeconomy. With narrow land but wide ocean， Japan took the strategy of relying onAmerica， actively got involved in the construction of international marine order and marine mechanism， enabling itself to quickly transform from a vanquished countryto a developed one. Government’s dominance of ocean’s exploitation and preservationis the distinct feature of its marine strategy. Under the guidance of sustainabledevelopment， Canada has put great efforts to develop ocean undertakings， activelypromoted the construction of international marine mechanism and improvedcomprehensive national strength. Although the strategies of above mentioned threecountries are carried out under different historical background， some measuresprovide reference to the implementation of our country’s marine strategy.Recent years saw great progress made in the development of China’s marineundertakings， but there are still obstacles in the implementation of strong marinepower strategy. First， plight of safety at sea. China’s owns long coastline and widewaters， but problems frequently arises in the East China Sea and the South China’sSea and territorial disputes with neighboring countries still exist. Meanwhile， withAmerica’s strategic shift to the Pacific region in recent years， there is structuralconflict between China and the existing global hegemony. Second， plight ofeconomic utilization. With the progress of economic globalization and the deepeningof dependence between China international market， China’s development becomesmore dependent on ocean， and implementing marine strategy is key to drive forwardChina’s development. However， there are several problems concerning our use ofocean: controversy of defining territorial waters， difficulty of transportation by sea，etc. Third， plight of international marine governance. Today’s international societylacks rational mechanism and platform of maritime security maintenance， andChina’s maritime security is facing great uncertainty. At the same time， internationalcommunity is short of rational mechanism and platform of marine resourcesdevelopment. Serious hidden danger exists in China’s marine resources development.Given the above mentioned plights， combining the useful experience ofdeveloped countries， China’s strong marine power strategy should have its owncharacteristics and achieve the organic combination of power， system， and culture.Seen from long term，our strategy is targeted on the globe，but regionality should bethe short-term target， achieving its regional marine power target and strengtheningmarine military power， so as to coincide with the regionality target. As for the system level， we should actively participate in the construction of internationalmarine order， learn the useful experience of developed countries and make our voiceheard in ocean governance. In terms of culture level， arouse people’s marineawareness， in order to lay solid ideological foundation for the strategyimplementation.