On Tuesday, April 16th, the Clements-Strauss Asia Policy Program will host Xiaobing Li, Professor of History and the Don Betz Endowed Chair in International Studies at the University of Central Oklahoma, for a book talk on China’s New Navy: The Evolution of PLAN from the People’s Revolution to a 21st Century Cold War.

In China’s New Navy: The Evolution of PLAN from the People’s Revolution to a 21^st Century Cold War, Xiaobing Li traces the evolution of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) by examining its adaptation, modernization, and setbacks over the past sixty years. Based on newly available Chinese sources and personal interviews with retired generals, admirals, and PLA officers, the work offers a rich Chinese perspective on PLAN war-fighting history. Li’s focus on major battles and important engagements during Chinese naval operations from 1949 to 2009 captures important lessons learned by naval leaders and government officials who faced their opponents at a time when the PLAN underwent a complex transformation—one that has only accelerated in recent years. The book concludes that some early experiences are still relevant to Beijing’s leaders as they consider specific strategic and operational challenges in today’s volatile world. Li redefines and adapts such strategic Cold War concepts as nuclear deterrence and local warfare to be meaningful in present-day strategic context, one in which PLAN is ready to open fire first in a defensive offense against other sea powers like the U.S. Navy.

Biography

Xiaobing Li is a Professor of History and the Don Betz Endowed Chair in International Studies at the University of Central Oklahoma. He holds a PhD from Carnegie Mellon University and is the author and editor of China’s New Navy (Naval Institute Press, 2023), US-China Relations: A New Cold War (Amsterdam U Press, 2022), The Dragon in the Jungle: The Chinese Army in the Vietnam War (Oxford U Press, 2020), East Asia and the West: An Entangled History (2020), Attack at Chosin: The Chinese Second Offensive Campaign in Korea (OU Press, 2020), Building Hu’s Army: Chinese Military Assistance to North Vietnam (U Press of Kentucky, 2019), The History of Taiwan (ABC-CLIO, 2019), and The Cold War in East Asia (Routledge, 2018). He is also the executive editor of the Chinese Historical Review. He served in Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

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