For the second year in a row, much of the world remained constrained by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, the growth the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has enjoyed over the past two decades continued. Not satisfied with just adding more platforms and weapon systems to the world’s largest navy, the PLAN expanded operations at sea, including complex war-at-sea exercises, showing the Chinese flag around the Indo-Pacific, threatening Taiwan, and—perhaps most important—conducting combined exercises with Russia in the Far East waters around U.S. allies and bases in Japan.
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2. Guo Yuandan, “Three New Warships Commissioned to PLA Navy, Creating Three ‘Firsts,’” PLA Daily, 25 April 2021.
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29. Marco Giannangeli, “Chinese Nuclear Attack Subs ‘Stalking’ Britain’s New Aircraft Carrier across Pacific,” The Express, 9 August 2021.
