At a two-day conference held by the US Naval War College's China Maritime Studies Institute in Newport, Rhode Island last week, James Fanell, the former director of the US Pacific Fleet's intelligence and information, predicted China will eventually have about 415 warships including four aircraft carriers and 100 submarines in the near future. He said those 415 warships include 99 submarines, four aircraft carriers, 26 corvettes, 73 amphibious ships, three missile craft, and 102 destroyers and frigates. Fanell added that with such a large number of long-range surface-to-surface missiles in hand, the PLA Navy is altering politics and strategies throughout the Asian theater and that the PLA Navy's active defense in the near seas are going to grow while far seas operations will increase.