The U.S. Once Dominated the World’s Oceans. China’s Xi is Changing That.

SINGAPORE—In 1998, a shadowy entertainment company based in the gambling hub of Macau made an unusual purchase: an aircraft carrier. Called the Varyag, it was originally ordered for the Soviet Union, but was left to rust unfinished in a Ukrainian shipyard.

Its Chinese buyers said they wanted to turn their $20 million acquisition into a floating casino. Today, China has three aircraft carriers, with a fourth on its way that Western experts believe will be nuclear-powered.That turned out to be a ruse.

China, whose inexperienced navy had never built or operated a carrier, decided to make an experiment of the Varyag. It took 15 years to transform the deteriorating, stripped-down hulk into a functioning vessel and figure out how to fly planes from it.

Some naval analysts mocked the effort back then. Today, China has three aircraft carriers, with a fourth on its way that Western experts believe will be nuclear-powered. They’re part of the world’s largest navy, which now has a battle force of more than 400 ships and submarines, according to official U.S.

numbers seen by The Wall Street Journal. That means China’s fleet is around 35% larger than the American Navy by hull count. It is one of the largest peacetime naval buildups in modern history. On any given day, as many as 100 of China’s navy ships are out on some of Asia’s busiest trade and transportation routes—pressuring rivals and training for a potential conflict with the U.S.

The larger and more sophisticated vessels in its fleet also routinely push further out into waters long dominated by American forces. The Chinese navy’s rise has been powered by the country’s rapid emergence as a colossus in shipbuilding and as the biggest sea-trading nation.

Its massive shipyards churn out more than half of the world’s merchant vessels every year and take advantage of that staggering scale to build warships at high speed. On top of that, Beijing has financed the construction of a vast overseas network of ports, from Sri Lanka to Israel and Peru.

Its coast guard and fishing fleets are the largest of any nation. Its research vessels are meticulously mapping the oceans, from the Mariana Trench to the Arctic. For centuries, China was a continental force. Its sudden, historic emergence as one of the world’s top maritime powers is challenging the U.S.

on a scale it hasn’t faced since World War II. The transformation is driven in part by Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s conviction that the rise and fall of nations is linked inextricably to the oceans. Current and former U.S.

officials say China is amassing the kind of all-round sea power that Alfred Thayer Mahan, one of America’s most influential maritime strategists, prescribed for his country over a century ago. “Xi Jinping himself is more Mahanian than any American leader has been probably since Teddy Roosevelt,” said Michael Studeman, who spent 35 years in the U.S.

Navy, retiring in 2023 as the head of the Office of Naval Intelligence. “He fully believes, as someone who has studied history, that any great power ultimately is a global maritime power.” America, Studeman said, has “sea-blindness.” It is a naval power, but no longer a maritime one.

Little cargo moves on U.S.-flagged ships today. With a broken industrial base, America produces very few oceangoing commercial vessels and has struggled to expand its approximately 290-ship navy. Programs to build frigates, extend the lives of aging cruisers and operate a large fleet of littoral combat ships have foundered.

A recent Navy Department report said that although the shipbuilding budget has doubled over the past two decades, America has no more naval ships now than in 2003. U.S. adversaries meanwhile “built fleets at a pace not seen in generations,” it said.

“China’s rapid naval expansion raises serious concerns about Beijing’s military ambitions,” a State Department spokesman said in an emailed response to questions. Beijing is using its maritime capabilities to project military power, advance expansive territorial claims and intimidate its neighbors, posing a challenge to American interests, the spokesman said, adding that the U.S.

will continue to uphold freedom of navigation and stand with its allies and partners. The White House said the Trump administration is restoring U.S. shipbuilding capacity, reforming workforce training and eliminating burdensome regulations.

“President Trump has prioritized restoring American maritime dominance unlike any of his predecessors,” spokeswoman Anna Kelly said. China’s Ministry of Defense didn’t respond to a request for comment. The large Chinese navy is expanding its missions in unprecedented ways and training at a fast tempo.

Early last year, the Chinese warship Zunyi looped conspicuously around Australia and staged live-fire drills around 5,000 miles from China’s coast, forcing commercial flights to divert. Months later, the 13,000-ton vessel trained for combat in a carrier strike group.

After clocking 200 days and 50,000 nautical miles at sea, it set out in January to practice hunting submarines.