Political Ideologies [NLAW 1032]

THE RISE OF CHINA AND ITS INCREASING INFLUENCE IN ASIA.

Submitted by:

Kumar Aryan, Ritobrata Bhowmick, Sachin KMS

Roll number:

2023BALH07ASL063, 2023BALH07ASL007, 2023BALH07ASL

BA-LLB (B)

2023-2028

Submitted to:

[Prof. Keerthiraj]

Alliance School of Law

Alliance University, Bengaluru

Date of Submission: 31/03/2024

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………….….3
1.1 Background of the study..........................................................................................4
1.2 Research problem....................................................................................................4
1.3 Research questions..................................................................................................5
1.4 Hypothesis...............................................................................................................5
1.5 Objectives................................................................................................................5
1.6 Methodology............................................................................................................6
1.7 Scope of the research………………………………………………………..…….6
2.What is China’s poltical and military approach in terms of territory and isolating
nations during war using strategy of encirclement?...........................................................7-10
3. What role has China's military modernization and expansion played in shaping
its regional dominance and also it's emerging advancement in terms of it's
hypersonic missiles?..........................................................................................................10-17
4. Explain about the historical background on how China became a economic
powerhouse?......................................................................................................................17-18
5.CONCLUSION................................................................................................................18
6. REFERENCE..................................................................................................................19-20

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1. INTRODUCTION

China as a nation has shown immense growth in all the sectors and that too in a very short
span of time. So China has grown immensely using different policies and strategies , our
research paper focuses on China’s growing influence in Asia and the strategies used by China
to accomplish that. So our main focus was China’s Economic, Military and Territorial
policies and strategies. To start with China’s most important Territorial or Border strategy it
first came up in String of pearls Hypothesis done in 2004 by United States political
researchers it is also called Strategy of Encirclement which is a political and military strategy
to encircle the neighbouring nations through military bases and friendly territory and to
isolate it during the War. China also used Debt trap policy to take over the control of various
ports in neighbouring nations like East Africa, Middle East , Iran , Pakistan , Maldives , Sri
Lanka , Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Now using this strategy of encirclement China’s motive is to encircle India and isolate it
during war like situations. Now the next thing comes is China’s main focus on capturing
Maldives and Sri Lanka , when it comes to Sri Lanka China used debt trap policy by first
giving loans and then force the nation to make economic treaty favouring China. Then comes
Maldives and China’s Belt and Road Initiative posing a direct threat to India by entering
Pakistan occupied Kashmir.

Our research lastly focuses on China’s Military policies and strategies. In this, we have
mainly focused on the how China evolved as the world’s second largest power in terms of
military, after United States of America. China has developed it’s military power in the last
25 years. China’s military expenditure has multiplied by third times since 2000 in comparison
to America’s military project which is 4 times. While other countries were trading with
China, China was growing entirely. After entering in the WTO in December 2001, it became
the centre of world’s most critical supply chain which helped it to become the world’s largest
manufacturing and trading nation. This helped Beijing to boost it’s military power because of
the rise in economy.

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1.1 Background of the Study

The research paper focuses on China’s strategies and policies that have provided a boost in its
rapid growth across Asia. Its main policies included economic, military and territorial issues
with territory being the first which first came up in String of pearls Hypotheses in 2004 ,
which was China’s strategy of encirclement through military bases and friendly alliances with
a single motive of isolating its neighbouring countries during war like situations. Our
Research paper also highlights China’s Belt and road initiative , debt trap policy which china
uses to force other nations like Sri Lanka, Maldives , Pakistan East Africa and Middle East.
Using this china take over ports in these countries and put up its own military bases. Lastly it
focuses on China’s rapid growth in its military in a span of 25 years which helped it become
second largest Army in the World , and how china joined (WTO)World Trade Organisation
which helped China expand its exports all over the world and gain dominance in Asia and
increase its influence.

1.2 RESEARCH PROBLEM

The research problem of this paper mainly revolves around China's increasing influence and
dominance in Asia and the strategies applied by it to achieve its goal, especially focusing on
economic, military, and territorial policies. The study examines China's territorial expansion
through the String of Pearls Hypothesis and debt-trap Policy which is basically aimed to
encircle neighboring nations and isolate them in order to dominate them during conflicts or in
a war like situation. It mainlty tries to highlight China's efforts in capturing of strategic
locations like Maldives, Sri Lanka and Pakistan through economic coercion and infrastructure
development. Moreover, the paper also focused on China's military advancement mainly over
the past 25 years, focusing on its significant rise in military expenditure and the fast
advancements of its military armed forces. The research also aimed at analysing the
consequences of China's rise as second largest military superpower, its rapid expansion of
maritime, its increasing advancements in submarine capabilities and air defense systems, and
also it's achievements in becoming first in hypersonic technology and cyberwarfare.
Moreover, this research paper also tried to showcase China's increasing space capabilities and
its growing nuclear fleet examining its consequences on the regional dynamics and also on
Asia.

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1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What is China’s political and military approach in terms of territory and isolating nations
during war using strategy of encirclement?
2..What role has China's military advancement and expansion played in increasing it’s
influence in Asia and also explain about it's emerging advancement in terms of it's hypersonic
missiles?
3. Explain about the historical background on how China became a economic powerhouse?

1.4 HYPOTHESIS

The research paper analyses China’s various policies and strategies to increase its influence in
China some of which are Economic, Military and Territorial strategies and policies. It
analyses the policies and strategies like debt trap policy, belt and road initiative that made
China developed , like China gave loans to countries and later forced them to sign treaty if
they were unable to pay the loan and take over their ports in countries like Sri Lanka,
Maldives , Bangladesh , Pakistan and how China experienced a rapid development in its
military making China’s military the second largest in the world and then China joining
World Trade organisation and how it helped China increase its export globally. Lastly how
China’s policies led to an increase in China’s influence in Asia.

1.5 OBJECTIVE

 Analyse China's dominance in Asia through economic, military, and territorial policies
and strategies.

 Analyse China's economic transformation, including it’s major policies like the Five-
Year Plan and WTO accession.

 Explain about the territorial expansion methods, such as the String of Pearls
Hypothesis and debt-trap policy, alongside economic and military advancements.

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1.6 METHODOLOGY

Our paper's main focus was a thorough examination of the country'sincreasing influence in
Asia focusing mainly on China's economic, military, and territorial strategies in conquering
neighbouring nations . We basically tried to understand completely about the Chinese policies
and their increasing dominance in Asia and also concentrated on the qualitative approach
which basically tries to get information from various periodicals and magazines, experts'
opinions, such as Deputy Assistant Major General Cameron Holt, and existing literature.

In order to get primary data, we mainly relied on reliable sources which includes government
reports from the Prime Minister's Office in Singapore and the Republic of India as well as the
Federal Bureau of Investigation's official website. We also tried to include news stories from
The Economic Times and reputable periodicals like Bloomberg. The report also used a quick
analysis to find and pinpoint the major trends revolving around China's military
advancement, debt-trap policy, and String of Pearls hypothesis. We also tried to include case
studies which helped us in examining China's influence in nations such as Pakistan,
Maldives, and Sri Lanka through the help of debt trap policies.

1.7 SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH

The research delves into China’s military, economic and territorial policies and strategies.
How china developed economically, and in terms of military and territory.
It studies various hypothesis and theories like String of pearls which first came up in 2004 in
a research which is also called the strategy of encirclement which china uses to encircle
neighbouring countries and to isolate them during war like situations. Then how China’s
entry in World Trade Organization helped China become an economic powerhouse. Then how
china uses debt trap policies for territorial expansion and then lastly the paper studies how
China developed its military power and became Second largest military in the world led by
President Xi Jinping amounting to rapid development of People’s Liberation Army , its naval
bases expansion in ports of other nations. The scope of the research focuses on analysis of
China’s evolving Strategies and policies leading to China’s increasing Influence in Asia.

DISCUSSION
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2. What is China’s poltical and military approach in terms of territory and isolating nations
during war using strategy of encirclement?

It’s often said that if you want to dominate someone or influence them to agree to your
instructions surround them and leave them with no options , and it is also the oldest trick in
the book which was used by kings during ancient times to dominate other kingdoms they use
to surround their boundaries or kingdom and would ask for surrender. Now the importance of
this piece of information is to understand china’s borders and political policies which is made
to dominate the neighbouring countries of china , and the motive behind is to be the most
powerful country in the world when it comes to land , people or economy.

Now if we elaborate on this China uses a STRATEGY OF ENCIRCLEMENT which is a

political and military strategy to encircle the neighbouring nations through military bases and
friendly territory and to isolate it during the war. It is mainly foused on some strategic
locations near Indian Ocean region and South Asia.

It first came up in String of pearls hypothesis done in 2004 by United States political
researchers which shows china has been building a network of Chinese Military and
Commercial Facilities in the Indian Ocean Region. China uses The Debt trap diplomacy for
the encirclement strategy.

Now some of china’s strategic locations or assets are:-

East Africa the most important asset of china here is DJIBOUTI

Where china has built a military support base in 2017. DJIBOUTI is a strategic land in Bab-
el-mandeb which separates Gulf of Aden from Red Sea and guards crucial choak point Suez
Canal. The CSIS (Centre for Strategic and International Studies)Africa Program identified 46
sub-Saharan African ports with financial, construction, or operational involvement by
Chinese entities. Which is often done by china using the Debt trap policy. China also invested
in seaports in Africa , There are signs that Beijing plans to use these port investments to
increase its military and political reach. At least six of the ports were also visited by Chinese
naval vessels or are dual-use civilian-military ports. Seven ports operated by Chinese entities
are deep-water, opening the possibility for larger commercial, but also military, vessels to
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dock. Some of the most important ports amongst them are Port Sudan in Red Sea, Port
Massawa in Eritrea , Port of Lamu and Mombasa port in Kenya , Dar es salaam port ,
maruhubi port and Mtwara port in Tanzania are included in this list.1

Middle East: Strait of Homruz located in The Pursian Gulf is a choak point for Indian Ocean
trade. Oman which is strategically located near this has China’s presence through its major
investment in ports like Duqm port which was earlier a fishing town is now being made an
industrial town. China has plans to invest up to $10.7 billion in Duqm , said by Ali shah ,
chief executive of Oman Wanfang , the Chinese consortium. China has also signed several
important deals in 2012 and 2013 with Yemen which includes China National Corporation for
overseas Economic Cooperation (CCOEC) , 3 natural gas-fired power plants and 2 container
ports at Aden and Mokha worth $508 million2

Iran : due to the sanctions reimposed by US in Iran in 2018 , Iran had been searching for new
economic partners after which China committed a 400 billion dollar investment in Iran in
next 25 years. This would give China a positive push in Middle East after USA’s influence.
Pakistan: China and Pakistan’Hambantota port on lease for 99 years. China has also been
working on two hybrid renewable energy plants at Nainativu and Analaitivu islands which
are located near the Indian territory which are Analaitivu and Nainativued near The Indian
invested Port Chabahar in Iran.

Pakistan has allowed China direct access to the Gwadar port through 'China Pakistan
Economic Corridor (CPEC)* which is already resented by India since it pass through
Pakistan occupied Kashmir(PoK).

SIPRI report underscores that China is Pakistan's largest arms partner country. The arms
import of Pakistan from China has increased from 58.42% in 2009-18 to 69.12% in 2014-18.
Maldives : China has been doing Island development projects here which shows its active

1
CSIS (Centre for Strategic and International Studies) https://www.csis.org/analysis/assessing-risks-chinese-
investments-sub-saharan-african-ports#:~:text=Drawing%20on%20English%2Dlanguage%20press,Some
%20caveats%20are%20needed
2
Ali shah , chief executive of Oman Wanfang , the Chinese consortium.
https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL5N18K32D/

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investment in Maldives some of which are Feydhoo Finolhu , Kunaavashi , Hulhumale
located in Maldives. 3

Sri Lanka : China's 'debt-trap' policy seems most pronounced in Sri Lanka where China has
taken over the Hambantota port on lease for 99 years. China has also been working on two
hybrid renewable energy plants at Nainativu and Analaitivu islands which are located near the
Indian territory which are Analaitivu and Nainativu Island.

Bangladesh : After an agreement with Bangladesh in 2017, Chinese companies have

purchased three Natural gas fields in the country. China would also help Bangladesh to lay
down a 220 km long pipeline for importing oil to Chittagong refinery. Bangladesh also
granted access of Chittagong and Mongla ports to China in 2019.
The Chinese plan to help Bangladesh financially in erecting embankment for management of
the waters of Teesta River is concerning for India.

Myanmar : Coco island in Myanmar is strategically most important for China. It is located in
Bay of Bengal around 300Kms off Myanmar. Chinese Army has also been building a military
base on Alexandra Channel in Coco island north of Andman islands. China has been using the
islands since 1994 when Myanmar leased the islands to China. India’s counter encirclement
to deal with China is The necklace of diamond strategy.

Singapore: Indian navy have access to the Changi Naval Base of Singapore after 2018
agreement which it uses for refuelling.4

Indonesia : Indonesia has granted access of Sabang port to India for military purposes in
2018. These two ports can be used to counter china’s Strategic locations in Myanmar.
Oman: India's access to the Duqm port in Oman can be proved crucial for countering Chinese
ports located at Persian Gulf, Horn of Africa and Pakistan. India got access to it for Indian Air
Force and Indian Navy in 2018.
3
STOCKHOLM INTERNATINAL PEACE RESEARCH INSTITUTE (SIPRI)
https://www.sipri.org/media/press-release/2024/european-arms-imports-nearly-double-us-and-french-exports-
rise-and-russian-exports-fall-sharply#:~:text=Pakistan%20was%20the%20fifth%20largest,s%20by
%206.5%20per%20cent
4
PRIME MINISTER’S OFFICE SINGAPORE
https://www.pmo.gov.sg/Newsroom/joint-statement-republic-singapore-and-republic-india

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Iran : India is developing Chabahar port in Iran.

East Africa : India already have military access to Seychelles and Assumption Island in the
Eastern Africa and also operate coastal surveillance radar system here.

These policies shows that Other countries have now realised China’s motives and is trying to
counter China’s Increasing relations.

3. What role has China's military modernization and expansion played in shaping its regional
dominance and also it's emerging advancement in terms of it's hypersonic missiles?

Chinese leaders believed that a strong country must have a strong military as only then
inherent to security of the nation. Through a multi tense trajectory planning, China is building
a military that allows it to shape the 21st century. The most interesting question when it
comes to China's growth and exposure growth is actually you don't have to look back 50
years, 40 years, 30 years. Actually, most of these changes have happened in the past 25 years.
So if you go 25 years ago, the chinese economy was even smaller than France's economy.
They took up 3% of global Economy. They had military that you could hardly even call it a
military. The navy that couldn't sail beyond coast. Until second half of 1990s, the chinese
defence budget was absolutely negligible. But now China is in the second world's most
powerful military. And it's got their largely, as always, through spending a lot of money.
Thanks to a 740% increase in military spending as well as elite quarters, they've now built
one of the most formidable military. China's defense expenditures have multiplied by third
times since 2000, in comparison to America's military project which is nearly four times that
of China. Whlie other countries were trading with China, China was growing entirely. To
understand the magnitude of China's determination in achieving its national goals, look no
further than the belt and road industry. China's trillion dollar global infrastructure plan, the
centerpiece of President Xi Jinping's foreign policy. The belt of road inch is one of the big
chinese economic plans to build power. The Chinese were actually extremely pragmatic in
deciding how to go about enacting its military capacities increasingly so that they could
challenge and increase their dominance and they did so, basically with weapons that are
much cheaper to produce than the things that they destroy.

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In December 2001, China joined the World Trade Organization. This event was arguably
more important to global politics than even the September 11 attacks. As China's entry into
the WTO allowed it to include itself at the center of many of the worlds most critical supply
chains and become the worlds largest trading and manufacturing nation. Beijing took
advantage of the vast wealth coming to its economy to spend much more money on its
military. Between 2016, China's military budget increased at a 10% annual rate. Since then,
the rate has slowed, but the military budget has still gone up by five to 7% per year. In 1995,
at the beginning of the third Taiwan Strait crisis, China wasnt even in the top ten of
worldwide military spenders. By 2002, the first year after joining the WTO, China spent
about $30 billion on its military, ten times less than the United States, and was still behind the
United Kingdom and Japan. 18 years later, China spent about $260 billion on its military,
reducing the gap to about three times less than the United States. However, China's budget
actually understates the amount that goes into its military, and China might be spending about
$60 billion more per year on its armed forces than advertised. In 2022, deputy assistant
secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition Major General Cameron Holt warned that "China
was acquiring weaponry at a rate five to six times faster than the United States". He further
stated that "in terms of purchasing power parity, they spend about $1 to our $20 to get the
same capability and we are going to lose if we can't figure out how to drop the cost and
increase the speed in our defense supply chains"5.

China's military buildup accelerated when Xi Jinping took power in 2012. Xi has an unusual
personal interest in military affairs, at least in comparison with his predecessors Hu Jintao
and Zhang Zemin. Unlike them, Xi holds the title of commander in chief of the Joint
Operations Command center.While China's People's Liberation army has always been
responsible to the Communist Party and its leader, the new title gives Xi Jinping commander
at the operational and field level that his predecessors didn't have. Xi also has strong personal
and familial ties with the PLA that his predecessors lacked. His father, Ji Zhong Zhong was a
military leader in World War two and the civil war. Even Xi's wife, Pen Liwan, was a civilian
member of the PLA, with a rank equivalent to major general. Many of those closest to him
are also military men with deep ties to the institution.

5
Why has China been strengthening its military in the Indo-Pacific? , CSS Cracker ,February 12, 2024.
https://www.csscracker.online/2024/02/why-has-china-been-strengthening-its.html?m=1

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The PLA encompasses five main service branches i.e. the Ground Force, the Navy, the Air
Force, the Rocket Force, and the Strategic Support Force. Following the 200,000 and 300,000
personnel reduction announced in 2003 and 2005 respectively, the total strength of the PLA
has been reduced from 2.5 million to around 2 million.The reductions came mainly from non-
combat ground forces, which would allow more funds to be diverted to naval, air, and
strategic missile forces. This shows China's shift from ground force prioritisation to
emphasising air and naval power with high-tech equipment for offensive roles over disputed
coastal territories.

China has rapidly expanded its People's Liberation army navy in both numbers and capability.
China has traditionally been a land rather than a sea power, but its containment in the first
island chain and its dependence on commercial shipping necessitated a change. With the first
island chain full of american allies and chokepoints vulnerable to being blocked by the
United States Navy, the leadership in Beijing determined that it must have a stronger navy of
its own. As late as 2010, China had no aircraft carriers. However, China had in 1998
purchased the sister ship of Russia's Admiral Kuznetsov carrier and after a long wait, finally
commissioned the ship as the Liaoning in 2012. In 2019, China launched the Shandong, its
first domestically produced carrier based on the Liaoning. However, these two carriers used
ski jumps called the Snow bar system to launch their planes. This is slower than America's
Nimitz and Ford class carriers, which use a catapult system. Not wanting to be outdone China
launched the Fujian in 2022. This is China's first wholly domestically designed aircraft
carrier, and like its american counterparts, it uses the catapult system. The Fujian was named
after the province located across the strait from Taiwan. China has no plans to stop with the
Fujian and It's currently building at least one more aircraft carrier, codenamed the Type 004.
This carrier, which looks very similar to the US Navy's Gerald R4, will be the first in China's
fleet to operate on nuclear power, which will give it the ability to stay at sea for much longer
durations than its predecessors and at much further ranges. Nuclear powered ships also have
an advantage in generating electricity needed to power advanced weapons and equipment.
Some american national security experts believe that China could have five aircraft carriers
by 2031, with the newer ones having nuclear propulsion to give them longer ranges and
staying power at sea. China also now has the world's largest navy, with 426 hulls in its fleet
as of November 2023. However, many of these vessels are not fit for frontline combat, as
they are lighter and less well armed. This is why, despite China's fleet units, it still lags
behind the United States Navy in terms of combined tonnage, with the US Navy being about
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twice as heavy. However, a decade ago, the US Navy had a three to one advantage over the
plan in tonnage, which shows how serious China is about closing the gap. The gap is closed
partially because China is also building cruisers and destroyers at pace. By 2031, China could
have 60 of these with modern capabilities.

On similar paths with the US Navy's equipment ships, China is also modernizing its
submarine force. This is the area of underwater warfare where China lags the furthest behind
the United States. It has 72 submarines in its fleet, but only 15 are nuclear powered, with six
being ballistic missile submarines and an additional nine being conventional attack
submarines. The others are diesel electric submarines, which have less range, cannot dive as
deep, and are noisier since they can only run on electric power for a short time. However,
China is investing more heavily in its submarine fleet and plans to build two new types of
submarines, the Type 095 nuclear powered submarine and the Type 096 ballistic missile
submarine. In contrast to the Type 094, the Type 095 and 096 in particular are expected to be
much quieter, due to it's sound isolation.

The People's Liberation Army Air Force operates a multi-layered, integrated air defense
system combining radar stations, electronic warfare systems, early warning and surveillance
zones, and air-missile defense systems of various ranges. It has a large and varied fleet of
some 4,000 aircraft, of which around 2,566 are combat aircraft (fighter, attack, and bombers).
According to FlightGlobal, China has the second-largest active combat aircraft fleet and the
third-largest total aircraft fleet in the world. During the Exercise Zapad-81 in 2021 with
Russian forces, most of the gear were novel Chinese arms such as the KJ-500 airborne early
warning and control aircraft, J-20 and J-16 fighters, Y-20 transport planes, and surveillance
and combat drones.

The maximum range of China's land based conventional strike missiles has been doubld in
less than a decade as compared to 2015, putting all american bases in the Asia Pacific,
including Guam, within the range of precision missiles fired from the chinese military. A
secretive chinese military unit is responsible for better expansion and now controls one of the
largest and most diverse land based missile forces in the world. The details of the force are
some of China's most tightly guarded secrets. But western intelligence agencies and
researchers have revealed evidence of its dramatic rise. China has rapidly increased its
missile arsenal. In August 2023, chinese leader Xi Jinping suddenly ousted and replaced the
13
head of an opaque military unit called the rocket force.6 China's leaders have tasked this force
with its highest military objective. In recent years, the force has test launched hundreds of
ballistic missiles at a rate that has exceeded the rest of the world. The PLA rocket force has
six bases spread across China, in an arc in the south, which are responsible for a potential
Taiwan conflict. Then up in the northeast, which is responsible for Korean peninsula targeting
Japan, there's a dedicated base in central China and finally a base which is responsible for the
northwest of China. On top of these six main bases, which numbered from 61 to 66, the
rocket force also has several supporting bases. One of which is regarded as the most
important base, 67 is the most secretive of the PLA rocket force bases, the guardian of
China's strategic nuclear deterrent.

The intercontinental ballistic missiles of China focused on targets in the US mainland. A

number of scientists looking at civilian imagery spotted three new missile silo fields under
development. The silo fields are based in very desertified areas outside of Hami, Yumen city
and Urdu city. Silos are built in a circuit of tubes into the ground and contain propellants to
launch missiles. If China mounts nuclear warheads on missiles in these silos, it would be
present a huge strategic shift. The rocket force recently demonstrated its capability to strike
Taiwan during the conflict. Subordinate to base 61 are a number of brigades involved in the
targeting of Taiwan during missile tests. When Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022,
China conducted several days of military exercise.7 A number of short and intermediate range
missiles were launched into exclusion zones to the north and south of Taiwan. One of them
was to the east in seaboard, and there were also some short range rocket firings between
Taiwan and Fujian province. China has been building up its missile capacity near Taiwan for
years. But drills during Pelosi's visit demonstrate the rocket forces new capability to target
the entire peripheral. These brigades are one of the sharpest tools in their arsenal to mount a
devastating missile attack on the island, to blockade the island, to close off shipping lanes,
and to mount a stranglehold on the island during times of political sensitivity. China views
Taiwan's autonomy and its links with the US as a geostrategic capability. The rocket force
will play a key role to prevent intervention of the United States and allies, if a World War

6
China replaces rocket force generals in surprise military shake-up By ANI ,Aug 02, 2023.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/china-replaces-rocket-force-generals-in-surprise-military-
shake-up/articleshow/102363402.cms?from=mdr
7
China’s military extends drills near Taiwan after Pelosi trip By Lily Kuo Published August 8, 2022.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/08/08/taiwan-china-military-exercises-pelosi/

14
breaks out over Taiwan. The rocket forces developed missiles capable of striking U.S. forces
within the first and second island chains. One of these is the Dungfang 26, known as the
carriage. The weapon has been deployed to a number of brigades, posing a challenge to the
left. The DF-26 can be either conventionally armed or nuclear armed. It can target accurately.

There are certain narrow areas where Chinese are more advanced. These areas include the
hypersonic missiles and it is very concerning. China is investing in hypersonic because of the
name people focus on ultrasonic part on the ports they go. But actually the biggest issue when
it comes to hypersonic missiles is that they can fly very low because of the circular nature of
the earth. If you have a radar system, you don't see it until close to the last minute, which
makes it difficult to intercept. In August 2021, China tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic
missile that circled the globe before speeding towards its target. The Financial Times reported
that "the test showed that China had made astounding progress on hypersonic weapons and
was far more advanced than U.S. officials realized".8

Cyberwarfare has gained recognition as a valuable technique because it is an asymmetric

technique that is a part of information operations and information warfare. While China has
long been suspected of cyber spying, on 24 May 2011 the PLA announced the existence of
having 'cyber capabilities'. In February 2013, the media named "Comment Crew" as a hacker
military faction for China's People's Liberation Army.9 In February 2020, the United States
government indicted members of China's People's Liberation Army for the 2017 Equifax data
breach, which involved hacking into Equifax and plundering sensitive data as part of a
massive heist that also included stealing trade secrets, though the CCP denied these claims. 10

8
China surprises U.S. with nuclear-capable hypersonic missile test, FT reports ,PUBLISHED SUN, OCT 17
2021.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/17/china-surprises-us-with-nuclear-capable-hypersonic-missile-test-ft-
reports.html

9
Portrait of Accused China Cyberspy Unit Emerges By Christopher Bodeen ,February 20, 2013 ,Bloomberg.
https://www.bloomberg.com/businessweek
10
Chinese Military Hackers Charged in Equifax Breach , February 10, 2020.
https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/chinese-hackers-charged-in-equifax-breach-021020

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Having witnessed the crucial role of space to United States military success in the Gulf War,
China continues to view space as a critical domain in both conflict and international strategic
competition. The PLA operates a various satellite constellations performing reconnaissance,
navigation, communication, and counterspace functions. Significant components of the PLA's
space-based reconnaissance include Jianbing satellites with cover names Yaogan and Gaofen.
These satellites collect electro-optical imagery to collect a literal representation of a target,
synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery to penetrate the cloudy climates of southern China,
and electronic intelligence (ELINT) to provide targeting intelligence on adversarial ships.
The PLA also leverages a restricted, high-performance service of the country's BeiDou
positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) satellites for its forces and intelligence,
surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms. For secure communications, the PLA uses
the Zhongxing and Fenghuo series of satellites which enable secure data and voice
transmission over C-band, Ku-band, and UHF. PLA deployment of anti-satellite and
counterspace satellites including those of the Shijian and Shiyan series have also brought
significant concern from western nations.

The first of China's nuclear weapons tests took place in 1964, and its first hydrogen bomb test
occurred in 1967 at Lop Nur. Tests continued until 1996, when the country signed the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), but did not ratify it. The number of nuclear
warheads in China's arsenal remains a state secret. There are varying estimates of the size of
China's arsenal. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and Federation of American Scientists
estimated in 2024 that China has a stockpile of approximately 438 nuclear warheads.11 while
the United States Department of Defense put the estimate at more than 500 operational
nuclear warheads, making it the third-largest in the world.12

4. Explain about the historical background on how China became a economic powerhouse?

11
China's rapidly expanding nuclear weapon stockpile remains opaque , Feb 27, 2024 ,By ANI.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/chinas-rapidly-expanding-nuclear-weapon-stockpile-
remains-opaque/articleshow/108028788.cms?from=mdr

12
New Pentagon report claims China now has over 500 operational nuclear warheads, OCTOBER 19, 20234
Emily Feng.
https://www.npr.org/2023/10/19/1207156597/new-pentagon-report-claims-china-now-has-over-500-operational-
nuclear-warheads

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The five year plan which was from 1953 to 1957 largely proposed and organised large
sophisticated plants where chemicals, building materials, coal , etc were given high priority
similar to the soviet practice .
Shortly ,Following this economic policy , the great leap forward was introduced in 1958 .
Under this program , the agrarian reforms were done where the private plots were abolished
and were replaced by communes . This policy was intended to increase output through greater
cooperation and physical effort .
Apart from these policies , other initiatives also boosted china's economy. First of all in 1970s
china shifted from a centrally planned economy to a market oriented thereby bringing
innovation in the market .
And lastly china's membership in WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION ( WTO ) created
opportunity for china to indulge and integrate with the global market .

How china captured power in srilanka?

China is notoriously known for it's diplomatic practice of 'elite capturing' where chinese
diplomats seek to make close and friendly relationship with the elites and their families with
political clout and by this method china manipulates the negotiations in it's position . For
example. the close tie with the rajapaksha. China used . This method against the rajapaksha
family has been formulated to lure deep into the srilankan economy . China's funding to
suppress the Tamil tigers in exchange for highly skewed economic policies strengthens
China's grip over srilanaka . And also the debt trap policy where China gives loans to smaller
nations and does not devise a sustainable template for the repayment of loan helps China to
capture the economic forum of the nation. For example in order to pay off the debts of
foreign nations , srilanka heavily relies on chinese credit and failure to pay off the chines
loans force the island nation to make one sided economic treaty favoring China.

HOW CHINA CAPTURED MALDIVES ?

The projects under china's belt and road initiative will gain a new momentum due to the
increased imports from china . The government under new president of Maldives Mohammed
Muizzu is pro china as opposed to the previous presidents . This led to the continuation of
Bilateral free trade agreement between Maldives and china on December 7th , 2017 . Due the
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skewed nature of the treaty, imports coming from china enter the small island nation without
any taxation. This transaction has serious implications because it affects the state's public
finance . Therefore due the the increased custom duty free trade Catalyze the Maldive's
inability to pay foreign debt .
This insidious strategic policies by china made it possible to influence the Maldivian market .

5.CONCLUSION

Now to conclude our research paper we studied China’s different policies and Strategies in all
three sectors i.e Economic, Military and Territorial sectors that provides a rapid growth to
China’s influence in Asia. We studied China’s belt and road initiative , String of Pearls ,
strategy of encirclement and debt trap and how china expanded its military expenditure by
almost 3 times in a span of 25 years which helped china emerge as the second largest power
in terms of military, also how china after entering WTO helped it become the world’s largest
manufacturing and trading nations. which seems to be a very well planned and executed plan
to encircle neighbouring nations and isolate them during war like situations. Now in studying
this we came across a pattern which China follows is that is to counter India’s investment in
neighbouring countries and force the neighbouring countries to such extent using debt trap
policy by giving loans that they make China the only nation with treaties and also how china
help nations in very vulnerable state like when USA took back its investment from Pakistan
and Imposed Sanctions on Iran China took the advantage and did a lot of investment in these
nations. Now this pattern and China’s involvement in all territorial conflicts first came up in a
hypothesis done by political research but then soon people realised China’s motives and
started to counter it like India made a plan and strategy called the necklace of diamond to
counter all the investment of China which poses a threat to India indirectly or directly.

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pentagon-report-claims-china-now-has-over-500-operational-nuclear-warheads

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