China's growing naval might challenges US supremacy in Asia

Hong Kong

SHIP by ship, port by port, China has over the past two decades been assembling one of the essential engines of global power: a modern navy capable of projecting force far from home.

China's "blue water" navy - and how to respond to it - will be on the minds of Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, US Defense Secretary James Mattis and others gathering in Singapore this weekend for Asia's most high-profile security conference, the Shangri-La Dialogue.