Beijing Turns to the Seas. Combining Assertive Postures with Cooperation

China’s effort to build itself up into a maritime superpower has drawn wide attention. Questions rise as to whether the Chinese maritime turn is to be considered in terms of potential destabilization of the maritime order in the Western Pacific and the Indian Ocean region, or, rather, as a force committed to upholding that order. Those who contend that China’s maritime rise represents a destabilizing force point at Beijing’s assertive posture in the East and South China seas; on the other hand, the Chinese navy (PLAN) has taken part in humanitarian assistance, disaster relief (HA/DR) and anti-piracy missions in the Indo-Pacific region, contributing significantly to international maritime cooperation. State of the art analyses have focused either on China’s assertiveness, chiefly in regional seas, or on Beijing’s difficulties to catching up with a blue-water navy status in a global scenario. Rather than assuming China’s maritime projection as a uniform pattern, this study aims to demonstrate that Beijing is pursuing a twofold maritime strategy: on regional seas, where its navy is capable of exercising effective military might, China operates assertively and does not seek multilateral cooperation; on the high seas, where PLAN’s forays suffer from weaker preparedness and training, Beijing has joined the international community in safeguarding stability and has pursued naval diplomacy efforts, as demonstrated by its participation in anti-piracy missions in the Gulf of Aden since 2008 and its contribution to numerous HA/DR initiatives. Hence, this study emphasizes that, while apparently at odds, China’s regional assertiveness and its global cooperative posture coexist within Beijing’s strategic vision.