China’s Gray Zone Operations in the Yellow Sea
By Chungjin Jung * Introduction The People’s Republic of China (PRC) elected a new leader, Xi Jinping, at the 18th Chinese Community Party Congress in 2012 and adopted a new national development strategy goal of ‘building a maritime power.’[1] PRC then declared an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) over the East China Sea (ECS) in 2013 and created artificial islands from reefs in the South China Sea (SCS) in 2014 to expand maritime rights to those seas. Similar activities have developed in multiple forms over the past decade. Military experts name these PRC’s gray-zone operations/activities and have studied their characteristics. [...]
