The Global Taiwan Institute (GTI) is pleased to invite you to a conversation with Toshi Yoshihara on his new book, Mao’s Army Goes to Sea: The Island Campaigns and the Founding of China’s Navy. Beginning in 1949, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was forced to undergo a radical transformation. After years of campaigns against Japan and the Chinese Nationalists, the PLA had developed into a formidable fighting force. However, it lacked the expertise and resources to conduct maritime operations, complicating its efforts to secure its periphery. Over the course of a relatively short period, however, PLA leaders undertook a series of crucial reforms that laid the groundwork for the modern Chinese navy, allowing it to seize several offshore islands from its Nationalist rivals. In Mao’s Army Goes to Sea, Yoshihara provides an unprecedented look at this transformation, using primary sources to gain insights into the leaders and doctrines behind the establishment of the People’s Liberation Army Navy. What factors shaped the development of the PLAN? Who were the key figures in this process? What can this period teach us about the modern Chinese navy? This discussion will cover these questions and more.
This event will be moderated by GTI Executive Director Russell Hsiao.Doors will open at 11:30 AM, and the event will begin at 12:00 PM. If you plan on attending in-person, please RSVP here by February 6, as seating is limited. A light lunch will be provided. The event will also be broadcast live on GTI website and on YouTube beginning at 12:00 PM. Visit the event webpage for details and link to the GTI YouTube channel: https://globaltaiwan.org/events/february-8-book-talk-toshi-yoshihara/
The Author:
Toshi Yoshihara is a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA), as well as a member of the Global Taiwan Institute’s Advisory Board. He previously held the John A. van Beuren Chair of Asia-Pacific Studies and was a professor of strategy at the US Naval War College. Dr. Yoshihara has served as a visiting professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University; the School of Global Policy and Strategy, University of California, San Diego; and the Strategy Department of the US Air War College. He currently teaches a graduate course on sea power in the Indo-Pacific at the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. In 2016 he was awarded the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award in recognition of his scholarship on maritime and strategic affairs at the Naval War College. He holds a PhD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, an MA from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University, and a BSFS from the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University.
The Moderator:
Russell Hsiao is the executive director of GTI, senior fellow at The Jamestown Foundation, and adjunct fellow at Pacific Forum. He is a former Penn Kemble fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy and visiting scholar at the University of Tokyo’s Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia. He previously served as a senior research fellow at The Project 2049 Institute and National Security fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Prior to those positions he was the editor of China Brief at The Jamestown Foundation from October 2007 to July 2011 and a special associate in the International Cooperation Department at the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy. While in law school, he clerked within the Office of the Chairman at the Federal Communications Commission and the Interagency Trade Enforcement Center at the Office of the US Trade Representative. Hsiao received his JD and certificate from the Law and Technology Institute at the Catholic University of America’s Columbus School of Law where he served as the editor-in-chief of the Catholic University’s Journal of Law and Technology. He received a BA in international studies from the American University’s School of International Service and the University Honors Program.