Andrew S. Erickson

This is an instance in which the saying “You can’t un-ring the bell” would appear to apply…
During Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang’s Regular Press Conference on 7 April 2016, the following exchange occurred (key quotations underlined):
Q: Over the past few years, there have been frequent confrontations between fishing boats from China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam […]

Ronald O’Rourke, Maritime Territorial and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Disputes Involving China: Issues for Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 22 December 2015), R42784.
Summary
China’s actions for asserting and defending its maritime territorial and exclusive economic zone (EEZ) claims in the East China (ECS) and South China Sea (SCS), particularly since late 2013, have heightened concerns among […]

Phillip C. Saunders and Joel Wuthnow, China’s Goldwater-Nichols? Assessing PLA Organizational Reforms (Washington, DC: Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University, April 2016).
The Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs (CSCMA), part of National Defense University’s Institute for National Strategic Studies, has just published INSS Strategic Forum 294—“China’s Goldwater-Nichols? Assessing PLA Organizational Reforms.” […]

Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 31 March 2016), RL33153.
Summary
China is building a modern and regionally powerful navy with a limited but growing capability for conducting operations beyond China’s near-seas region. Observers of Chinese and U.S. military forces view China’s improving naval capabilities as posing a potential […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Joel Wuthnow, “Barriers, Springboards and Benchmarks: China Conceptualizes the Pacific ‘Island Chains’,” The China Quarterly 225 (March 2016): 1-22.
Download PDF version directly (access required).
This FirstView version of the article, also know as a final Version of Record (VoR), hereby replaces the Accepted Manuscript (AM) [a preliminary version of the article], the contents of […]

Sam LaGrone, “China Defends Deployment of Anti-Ship Missiles to South China Sea Island,” USNI News, 30 March 2016.
… Last month, news broke that China had deployed several HQ-9 anti-air missiles batteries to Woody Island after the U.S. conducted a freedom of navigation operation (FON op) near Chinese holdings at nearby Triton Island. …
“While the HQ-9 deployment was a […]

Andrew S. Erickson, “Raining Down: Assessing the Emergent ASBM Threat,” Jane’s Navy International, 16 March 2016.
Contents

A2/AD capability
Reconnaissance/strike complex
Iran’s enigmatic ‘ASBM’
Potential countermeasures
ASBMS: RE-BALANCING STRATEGIC COMPETITION?
COMMENT

The anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) has been portrayed as a game-changing weapon that threatens the dominance of the carrier strike group (CSG). Andrew Erickson examines emerging ASBM capabilities, assesses their potential operational […]

Sophisticated, thought-provoking, a great contribution!
Ian E. Rinehart, The Chinese Military: Overview and Issues for Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 24 March 2016), R44196.
Summary
China is building a modern and regionally powerful military with a limited but growing capability for conducting operations away from China’s immediate periphery. The question of how the United States should respond […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Capt. Christopher P. Carlson, USNR (Ret.), “Sustained Support: the PLAN Evolves its Expeditionary Logistics Strategy,” Jane’s Navy International, 9 March 2016.
Contents

Projecting force
Sustaining forces
Special delivery
Remote maintenance
Supporting facilities
UNDERWAY REPLENISHMENT
COMMENT

As China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy seeks to support sustained operations at distance, Andrew Erickson and Christopher Carlson discuss its strategy and tools for supporting this new international presence
China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has stepped […]

I strongly recommend this brilliant piece by my CMSI colleague Toshi Yoshihara in the latest issue of Naval War College Review! He provides a brilliant assessment of China’s use of  conventional and irregular forces, including two maritime militia trawlers, in hybrid warfare. Definitely a must-read! Scan the first two paragraphs below, and you’ll see why immediately…
Toshi Yoshihara, […]

On Thursday 24 March the Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC) will host the second annual CIMSEC Forum for Authors and Readers (CFAR), an event for our readers and the public to engage our contributors on their work and topics of interest. Thanks to the generous support of CNA we are pleased to offer a professional workshop on a range of maritime security issues. The […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Conor M. Kennedy, “China’s Maritime Militia,” CNA Corporation, 7 March 2016.
An important component of China’s local armed forces is the militia—an armed mass organization of mobilizable personnel who retain their normal economic responsibilities in daily civilian life. A reserve force of immense scale, the militia is organized at the grassroots level […]

Victor Robert Lee, “China Expands Land Filling at North Island in the Paracels—Satellite Images Also Show Dredging of a New Harbor Basin,” The Diplomat, 7 March 2016.
Posted with the author’s permission.

Satellite imagery from March 2nd, 2016 shows a marked expansion of China’s dredging and land filling at North Island in the Paracels. The newly manufactured […]