Study On SLOCs’ Security Under The Background Of Expanded National Interests

Sea-lane, which is very important for naval warfare, economic development andnational security, is a lifeline of marine transport for maritime country. In the course ofwar, transportation of army and weapons, and delivery of goods and materials throughsea-lane is a key factor in order to make sure consistent war power and final success. Inthe course of peace, sea-lane plays a role in safeguard for personal relations andinternational trade between nations. In fact, the rise and fall of powers all around theworld is the history of fight for sea-lanes, or so called―sea power‖. Whether thesea-lane is safe or not, determines national degree of security and level of trade, whichare associated with a country‘s survive and development.China is a great maritime nation with huge expanse of sea. According to history,the Maritime Silk Road used to spread the Chinese civilization all over the world. Theusage of sea-lane to develop the relationship with other countries can be easily provedby the famous historical events of Zhenhe‘s travelling to the west‘and JianzhenCrosses the Ocean to Japan‘. While China became the semi-colonial and semi-feudalsociety after modern times, the whole country had no defense with the decline ofnational power, let alone the security of sea-lane. Particularly after new China wasestablished, under the background of Cold War‘, America-led western countries weredived by anti-communist consciousness, which lead to the opposing to politics,economic blockade and military encircling of socialist country. It built an Island ChainEncirclement‘in China’s South-East coastal areas and nearly turned China into a landlocked state‘. In the late1970s and early80s, the policy of reformation andopening: Let the world know China and let China enter the world, made China becomeopen to the whole word. After blossom for thirty years, if China wants to change fromthe stage of introduce inside‘to go out‘, it needs to take advantage of sea-lane to form further external contacts, and make sure the security of it with expansion of nationalinterest. However, almost all of China’s sea lanes are handicapped. For instance, TaiwanStrait is impacted by unsuccessful national reunification; the South China Sea andnearby islands are looted by related countries; Strait of Malacca is controlled byAmerica; Black Sea channel is occupied by countries of North Atlantic TreatyOrganization; Gulf of Aden is harassed by pirates. As for China, changing towardmanaging sea, whose security is the tactic frontier, is currently an important directionand method for its interest extension. At present, China is facing different levels ofsecurity dilemma in sovereign waters, international waters and ocean waters. At thisstage, the Chinese sea-lanes are protected and latently threatened by it at the same time.China should enhance comprehensive national strength, and at the same time makefurther development of sea power in purpose of managing and safeguarding the sealanes. In this progress, China should settle the new concepts of security which aremutual trust, mutual benefits, equality and cooperation. On the other hand, positivedefense should also be kept to promote the construction of newly reasonable marinerules, which can actually deliver the signal of being rational to the whole word. By thisway, it benefits the extension of interest for each country and the security of sea-lanes,and thus farthest maintains the international peace.