Hong Kong (CNN)In 2018, Chinese President Xi Jinping donned military fatigues and boarded a People's Liberation Army Navy destroyer in the South China Sea.
Spread out before him that April day was the largest flotilla Communist-ruled China had ever put to sea at one time, 48 ships, dozens of fighter jets, more than 10,000 military personnel.
For Xi, the country's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong, the day was a way point to a grand ambition -- a force that would show China's greatness and power across the world's seven oceans.
"The task of building a powerful navy has never been as urgent as it is today," Xi said that day.
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WNU Editor: The Chinese are going to do four things with their navy.
(1) Continue to build even more ships. But these new ships will be more advanced and far more modern than their current fleet.
(2) Use their navy to assist the Coast Guard when they are forcibly asserting China's maritime claims in the South China Sea and the Western Pacific.
(3) To be used for intimidation against Taiwan, and those who support Taiwan.
(4) To show to the world that China navy has a "Blue Navy", and that Beijing's reach is global.
