60 Zoltán Vörös PR China’s Pursuit of a Blue-Water Navy 80 Introduction Te development of the navy and the extension of connected capacities is one of the focuses of the military evolution in the People’s Republic of China (lat- er on: China). Te directions of the improvement appear to be clear, though achieving their aims are a question of decades, not years. Tese Chinese steps, the progress they make, new ship classes they develop, advanced technologies they produce will take the upcoming decades to reach their goals – even if sometimes the Western media exaggerates the potential threat posed by the Chinese army. Te paper shortly presents the geopolitical environment of the country, af- ter that analyses the necessity of a blue-water navy, the development they have already started and tries to project ahead their capacities and the relevance of that future Navy. Geopolitical Environment Although China is not a landlocked country, its potential to enter the world market is limited – to the South China Sea, through which Beijing can facili- tate its trade. Te historical ties, political realities made it harder (or even im- possible) for China to trade through mainland neighbours: the break-up with the Soviet Union (including Central Asia) closed the routes towards Europe, the relations with India made it impossible to use southern ways, the situation in Southeast Asia and the location of South Korea, Japan and the presence of the US Army in these countries let no other option for Beijing. Graph 1. China’s Geopolitical Environment Source: cdn.shopify.com, edited by the author So the South China Sea and the maritime trade routes are exceptionally im- portant for China, especially in the recent decades, achieving outstanding eco- nomic successes. To fuel its economy and to supply the oil consumption of the 80 The Project under the Registration Number “EFOP-3.6.3-VEKOP-16-2017-00007” named “From a Tal- ent to a Young Researcher – Supporting Activities of the Researcher Career in Higher Education” is co-funded by the European Union in the framework of the Széchenyi 2020 Program.