China's oceanic emergence: From Admiral Zheng He's strategy to the String of Pearls doctrine

Aghamohammadi, Ebrahim; Fattahi, Marziyeh

doi:10.22059/jcountst.2025.388350.1221

China's oceanic emergence: From Admiral Zheng He's strategy to the String of Pearls doctrine

Document Type : Original

Authors

Ebrahim Aghamohammadi

Marziyeh Fattahi

Department of History, Faculty of Humanities, University of Arak, Arak, Iran.

10.22059/jcountst.2025.388350.1221

Abstract

The Indian Ocean represents a region that China, during the fifteenth century of its medieval history, brought under its hegemony through Admiral Zheng He's fleet, which placed the region's political, economic, and military relations under Chinese authority. This research examines the primary question of China's motivations for turning toward the Indian Ocean in medieval times under Admiral Zheng He and in contemporary history through the String of Pearls doctrine. Using a comparative approach to sources, this study argues that the Indian Ocean, as a crucial political and commercial region, possesses the potential to enable China's dominance over the global economy. This economic dominance in medieval Chinese history centered around spices and control of strategic straits for goods transit, reinforced and protected by military presence to command global political relations. In the String of Pearls doctrine, oil resources replace spices, and again, through power projection in strategic straits via military presence in the Indian Ocean, China not only secures these resources for its growing needs but also shapes contemporary global political and economic transformations to favor its hegemony.

Keywords

Admiral Zheng He

China

Indian Ocean

String of Pearls doctrine

Subjects

International Relations

حوزة موضوعی: چین

Scope: China

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