The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy is likely to secure significant new funding in China’s upcoming defence Budget as Beijing seeks to check the United States dominance of the high seas and step up its own projection of power around the globe.

China’s navy has been taking an increasingly prominent role in recent months, with a rising star admiral taking command, its first aircraft carrier sailing around self-ruled Taiwan and new Chinese warships popping up in far-flung places.

Now, with US President Donald Trump promising an American shipbuilding spree and unnerving China with his unpredictable approach on hot-button issues including Taiwan and the South and East China Seas, Beijing is pushing to narrow the gap with the US Navy.

… “Certainly, the PLA Navy has really been the beneficiary of a lot of this new spending in the past 15 years,” said Mr Richard Bitzinger, senior fellow and coordinator of the Military Transformations Programme at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.