The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN; ), also known as the People's Navy, Chinese Navy, or PLA Navy, is the maritime service branch of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAN traces its lineage to naval units fighting during the Chinese Civil War and was established on 23 April 1949. Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, the Soviet Union provided assistance to the PLAN in the form of naval advisers and export of equipment and technology. Until the late 1980s, the PLAN was largely a riverine and littoral force (brown-water navy). In the 1990s, following the fall of the Soviet Union and a shift towards a more forward-oriented foreign and security policy, the leaders of the Chinese military were freed from worrying overland border disputes. Traditionally subordinated to the PLA Ground Force, PLAN leaders were now able to advocate for a renewed attention towards the seas. Chinese military officials have outlined plans to operate in the first and second island chains, and are working towards blue water capability. Chinese strategists term the development of the PLAN from a green-water navy into "a regional blue-water defensive and offensive navy." As the PLAN expands into a blue-water navy, regular exercises and naval patrols in the South China Sea have been increased, particularly near the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea and the island of Taiwan, which it claims. The People's Republic of China (PRC) along with the Republic of China (ROC), Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, and the Philippines claims a significant amount of maritime boundary located within the South China Sea. The People's Liberation Army Navy is composed of five branches; the Submarine Force, the Surface Force, the Coastal Defense Force, the Marine Corps and the Naval Air Force. With a personnel strength of 240,000 personnel, including 15,000 marines and 26,000 naval air force personnel, it is the second largest navy in the world in terms of tonnage which stands at 1,820,222 tonnes as of 2019, only behind the United States Navy, and has the largest number of major surface combatants of any navy globally with an overall battle force of approximately 350 surface ships and submarines—in comparison, the United States Navy's battle force is approximately 293 ships. History The PLAN traces its lineage to units of the Republic of China Navy (ROCN) who defected to the People's Liberation Army towards the end of the Chinese Civil War. In 1949, Mao Zedong asserted