Toshi Yoshihara

What Yoshihara seemed to promise with this monograph was an analysis that connected the establishment of the People's Liberation Army Navy with contemporary policy. In that respect we have a winner, in that the parallels between the first Maoist naval operations to clear the islands of the Chinese mainland, with current Chinese naval operations are quite clear. What with the "nibbling" to create a bigger zone of control (one island at a time), the fusion of all maritime assets (naval, para-military, and civilian), and a tendency to improvisation.

The author also makes a good argument that the establishment of the Chinese Red Navy was no afterthought, and was never merely a branch of the PLA, though the resources might have been slim. Traditions were definitely established in 1949-50 that continue to have an institutional impact. Even with the increasing interest in "Blue Water" operations.

Most important though is that one can now piece together a good first overview of the campaign of reduction against the off-shore bastions of the KMT, and how the PLAN did learn from its mistakes, and there were many. This is even though Yoshihara suspects that the Chinese authorities are being economical about casualties and the Soviet influence in their semi-open literature. I'm left with little doubt that if the decision is made to try and take Taiwan by main force, it will be carefully planned and with a clear-eyed sense of reality; unless the higher leadership feels a desperate need to stage a security "spectacular."… (mere)

Read Chapters 1, 4, 6-8 of this in Nov 2023 as part of the case study on China during S&W at the Naval War College. It was a helpful read to gain insight on China's history as it applies to their maritime strategy and growth of their navy. It served as a nice compliment to the lecture by Prof Holmes (one of this book's authors) on 1 November titled, "Recent Events through Chinese Eyes." Recommended for anyone curious on China's rise as our peer competitor in the Pacific.

From the S&W syllabus: Professor Holmes of the Strategy and Policy Department and Toshi Yoshihara, a former Naval War College professor now at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, provide a comprehensive analysis of the competition between China and the United States. This reading plays a central role in examining the strategic contours and capabilities of the American and Chinese armed forces.… (mere)