Tip of the spear, or stranded on beaches? Chinese planners dissect USMC Pacific posture

The U.S. Navy has taken some heat recently for focusing too heavily on the Middle East and neglecting the Asia-Pacific. The same cannot be said of the U.S. Marine Corps , which unveiled a new strategy in 2019 relying on dispersed groups of Marines to wield drones and anti-ship missiles in archipelagic warfare in order to unhinge Chinese maritime expansion. As the Marines are developing new capabilities at the pointy end of the American spear, so to speak, it’s not surprising that USMC strategy is attracting lots of attention from Chinese defense experts. This article summarizes several recent…