Expansão militar e econômica da China: submarinos nucleares na estratégia A2/AD, entre 2001 e 2020

Abstract

After the end of the Cold War, China experienced significant economic development, becoming a major military, technological and industrial power in the 21st century. The dependence on energy resources and the aspiration to reincorporate Taiwan into its territory led the Chinese to adopt measures to control of the sea, where there is intense maritime traffic: the South China Sea, also known as the Southern Chinese Sea. As one of the consequences of the 1991 Gulf War, studies conducted by various countries, including the Asian giant, redefined the concepts of antiaccess and area denial, also known as A2/AD. Despite being two concepts, each with its own definition, they are operationally similar and geographically interconnected. Thus, five fundamental elements were derived from these theories, two of which will be described in this research: the primacy of geography and the superiority of the attacking force. With this, the theoretical framework of this research was the A2/AD concept used by China to exert maritime control in the aforementioned region. Within this context, this work sought to describe, in terms of possibilities and limitations, the use of nuclear submarines by the chinese navy in the South China Sea between 2001 and 2020, correlating with the application of the mentioned theory. By comparing the concepts that supported this dissertation with the reality studied, it was found that there is adherence and correlation between them, as well as existing differences. The United States, historically the most influential and dominant military nation in the Pacific, tries to counter chinese ambitions by imposing limitations and barriers to China's actions under the argument of preserving freedom of navigation. Finally, it was possible to conclude that the US and China will face a long challenge ahead, where the former seeks to maintain its hegemony in the region and the latter aims for exclusivity in exploiting the mineral resources there to sustain its growth and expand its zone of influence in the Pacific, with the prior knowledge that the USA should abandon their ambitions in the region.