Archive | China Real Time Report (中国实时报)

03 July 2017

In Loving Memory: The Wall Street Journal’s China Real Time Report

Through June 2017, the China Real Time Report (中国实时报) website offered pithy insights from Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones reporters as well as from a team of specialized “expert contributor” commentators knowledgeable about the latest developments in such fields as Chinese law, policy, economics, and culture. It was my great honor to be a member […]

Continue Reading

15 May 2016

Pentagon Report Aims to Lay Out Chinese Military Goals

Andrew S. Erickson, “Pentagon Report Aims to Lay Out Chinese Military Goals,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal, 15 May 2016.
With things heating up in the South China Sea and across the Taiwan Strait, Washington just attempted to shine some badly needed light on Beijing’s military efforts.
On Friday, the Pentagon released its 15th annual […]

Continue Reading

05 March 2016

The Limits of Growth: Economic Headwinds Inform China’s Latest Military Budget

Andrew S. Erickson and Adam P. Liff, “The Limits of Growth: Economic Headwinds Inform China’s Latest Military Budget,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal, 5 March 2016.
With an official defense budget increase of 7.6% to 954 billion yuan ($147 billion) announced today, Beijing’s quest to restore China’s historic “greatness” and to attain international status as […]

Continue Reading

03 September 2015

Missile March: China Parade Projects Patriotism at Home, Aims for Awe Abroad

Andrew S. Erickson, “Missile March: China Parade Projects Patriotism at Home, Aims for Awe Abroad,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal, 3 September 2015.
The greatest military parade in Chinese history sent strong messages to multiple audiences Thursday. Chinese viewers were informed that under the Chinese Communist Party’s irreplaceable leadership, their nation repelled Japanese invasion, has […]

Continue Reading

02 September 2015

Sweeping Change in China’s Military: Xi’s PLA Restructuring

Andrew S. Erickson, “Sweeping Change in China’s Military: Xi’s PLA Restructuring,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal, 2 September 2015.
Chinese President Xi Jinping needs some positive achievements, immediately. The year began with his striking consolidation of leadership at home and abroad but has become mired in problems and widely-perceived blundering on economic issues. This […]

Continue Reading

24 August 2015

New U.S. Security Strategy Doesn’t Go Far Enough on South China Sea

New Asia-Pacific Maritime Security Strategy: necessary but insufficient…
Andrew S. Erickson, “New U.S. Security Strategy Doesn’t Go Far Enough on South China Sea,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal, 24 August 2015.
The Pentagon just released an “Asia-Pacific Maritime Security Strategy.” The document articulates three regional maritime objectives heretofore insufficiently stressed and linked: “to safeguard […]

Continue Reading

06 July 2015

Stock Slump Casualty: The Myth of Chinese Exceptionalism

Andrew S. Erickson and Gabe Collins, “Stock Slump Casualty: The Myth of Chinese Exceptionalism,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal, 6 July 2015. 
China’s dramatic stock market plunge and the resulting uncertainty as to how Beijing will try to manage the situation are calling China’s economic growth and political stability into question. This financial risk story […]

Continue Reading

09 May 2015

Clear Strengths, Fuzzy Weaknesses In China’s Massive Military Build-Up

Andrew S. Erickson, “Clear Strengths, Fuzzy Weaknesses In China’s Massive Military Build-Up,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal, 9 May 2015.
The U.S. Defense Department’s new assessment of China’s fighting ability paints a picture of a force in the midst of a broad-based modernization at a pace that other militaries would envy. It has increased its ability […]

Continue Reading

31 March 2015

Meet the Chinese Maritime Militia Waging a “People’s War at Sea”

Andrew S. Erickson and Conor M. Kennedy, “Meet the Chinese Maritime Militia Waging a ‘People’s War at Sea’,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal, 31 March 2015.

When the Philippines announced last week that it was restarting construction in disputed areas of the South China Sea in response to China’s own construction binge, it entered […]

Continue Reading

05 March 2015

China’s Military Spending Swells Again Despite Domestic Headwinds

Andrew S. Erickson and Adam P. Liff, “China’s Military Spending Swells Again Despite Domestic Headwinds,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal, 5 March 2015.
China raised its official 2015 defense budget 10.1% to 886.9 billion yuan ($141.5 billion), the government announced Thursday on the opening day of the annual meeting of the National People’s […]

Continue Reading

25 August 2014

Going Maverick: Lessons from China’s Buzzing of a U.S. Navy Aircraft

Andrew S. Erickson and Emily de La Bruyere, “Going Maverick: Lessons from China’s Buzzing of a U.S. Navy Aircraft,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal,  25 August 2014.
Many have evoked the film “Top Gun” in describing a recent confrontation between a Chinese J-11 fighter and U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon surveillance plane off of Hainan […]

Continue Reading

19 July 2014

Crashing Its Own Party: China’s Unusual Decision to Spy on Joint Naval Exercises

Andrew S. Erickson and Emily de La Bruyere, “Crashing Its Own Party: China’s Unusual Decision to Spy on Joint Naval Exercises,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal, 19 July 2014.
A party crasher from China’s navy is enjoying an intelligence buffet at the world’s largest maritime gathering – and the feasting will make it hard […]

Continue Reading

05 March 2014

Full Steam Ahead: China’s Ever-Increasing Military Budget

Andrew S. Erickson and Adam P. Liff, “Full Steam Ahead: China’s Ever-Increasing Military Budget,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal, 5 March 2014.
China’s official defense budget is projected to increase 12.2% in 2014 to roughly 808 billion yuan ($132 Billion), while the country’s economic growth is expected to hold steady at 7.5%, according […]

Continue Reading

31 January 2014

Take Heed of China’s Security Commission

Andrew S. Erickson and William McCahill, “Take Heed of China’s Security Commission,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal, 31 January 2014.
China’s complex bureaucracy has presented China-watchers with a new analytical challenge in the form of a National Security Commission, which appears intended to help President Xi Jinping consolidate power and enhance administration but which […]

Continue Reading

25 November 2013

Watch This Space: China’s New Air Defense Zone

Andrew S. Erickson, “Watch This Space: China’s New Air Defense Zone,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal, 25 November 2013.
Effective 10 a.m. on Nov. 23, Beijing declared an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) covering a significant portion of the East China Sea. The Chinese air force soon conducted its first patrol in the […]

Continue Reading

01 October 2013

Risks for U.S. in Asia with Shutdown Soap Opera

Andrew S. Erickson, “Risks for U.S. in Asia with Shutdown Soap Opera,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal, 1 October 2013.
As a dangerous game of budget roulette unfolds in the U.S., it behooves all concerned Americans and their representatives to remember that the world continues its rapid evolution and will not wait for Washington to […]

Continue Reading

07 June 2013

How Obama and Xi Can Avoid California Dreaming

Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “How Obama and Xi Can Avoid California Dreaming,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal, 7 June 2013.
President Barack Obama’s upcoming summit with President Xi Jinping at the Sunnylands estate in Palm Springs, Calif., comes at a crossroads for U.S.-China relations. There are of course the usual […]

Continue Reading

07 May 2013

Unpacking the Riches of the Pentagon’s China Report

Andrew S. Erickson, “Unpacking the Riches of the Pentagon’s China Report,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal, 7 May 2013.
The U.S. Department of Defense annual report on Chinese military developments, released on Monday, has made a splash by putting forth the most direct official accusations so far of Chinese cyberintrusions into the U.S. government computers. […]

Continue Reading

12 April 2013

March: China’s Month of Mistakes

Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “March: China’s Month of Mistakes,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal, 12 April 2013.
March was a tough month for China’s foreign policymakers, with four high-profile foreign policy fumbles, two of which significantly helped to raise the risk of tension and crisis in East Asia. While all but one […]

Continue Reading