The PLA Navy's mission in the Indian Ocean is essentially humanitarian. But it could transform into the strategic task of safeguarding the sea lines of communication. Maritime trade accounts for 90 percent of the world transport. So it is critically important for China, as the largest trading country in the world, to ensure the safety of the "choking points" like the Strait of Hormuz, Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb and the Strait of Malacca. That, however, does not mean the PLA Navy harbors any ambition of controlling or policing these straits, as Alfred Mahan suggested to the American navy. Secure sea lines are in the interest of all sea-faring nations, which could be done only in cooperation with other countries through joint patrolling.

The PLA Navy's presence in the Indian Ocean is also to ensure freedom of navigation, a fundamental principle of international law. China and the US hold different views on freedom of navigation. China is opposed to American surveillance/reconnaissance in China's exclusive economic zones while the US describes it as freedom of navigation. The two countries also disagree on what freedom of navigation means in the South China Sea. But in the Indian Ocean, this is not an issue. China, India and the US can work together with like-minded states to ensure the freedom of navigation.

Chinese naval vessels have appeared in the open seas of the world as never before, be it the Mediterranean, the Gulf of Guinea, or the Sunda Strait, to name just a few. If Admiral Zheng He, a legendary Ming Dynasty explorer who commanded expeditionary voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa from 1405 to 1433, were alive, he would have nodded approvingly. Compared with his seven voyages with the largest fleet of the day, in less than seven years, the PLA Navy has sent 20 task forces to the waters that Zheng He was so familiar with. The Chinese naval task force began patrolling the Gulf of Aden in 2009, and that year will be remembered as heralding the birth of a truly global navy.

The author is an honorary fellow with the Center of China-American Defense Relations, affiliated to the Academy of Military Science.