Andrew S. Erickson

2019 Missile Defense Review (Arlington, VA: Office of the Secretary of Defense, 17 January 2019).
 Watch President Trump announce the results of the administration’s missile defense review at the Pentagon on 17 January 2019.
Read the Executive Summary here.
Click here to download a cached copy.
 
Breaking analysis:
Thomas Karako, Senior Fellow, International Security Program and Director, Missile Defense Project, […]

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China Military Power: Modernizing a Force to Fight and Win (Washington, DC: Defense Intelligence Agency, 2019).
Click here to download a cached copy.
Watch the accompanying video here.
Defense Intelligence Agency Releases Report on China Military Power
By DIA Public Affairs

Washington, D.C., Jan. 15, 2019 —Washington, D.C. – (January 15, 2019) The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) today released China Military […]

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Assessment on United States Defense Implications of China’s Expanding Global Access, Supplemental Report to Congress: U.S. Defense Implications of China’s Expanding Global Access (as required by statute) (Arlington, VA: Department of Defense, 20 December 2018).
Click here to download a cached copy.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report assesses China’s global expansion by military and nonmilitary means, implications of […]

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INFORMATION & ANALYSIS CONCERNING CHINA’S MARITIME MILITIA:

Tracking China’s “Little Blue Men”—A Comprehensive Maritime Militia Compendium
Rarely is a topic so little recognized and so little understood, yet so important and so amenable to research using Chinese-language open sources… To increase awareness and understanding of this important subject, here is a convenient compendium of major publications and […]

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2018 Report to Congress of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, One Hundred Fifteenth Congress, Second Session, 14 November 2018.
 
Click here to read the full text.
 
Report PDFs:
2018 Annual Report to Congress.pdf
Executive Summary 2018 Annual Report to Congress.pdf
2018 Recommendations.pdf
 
Chapters: 
Chapter 1 Section 1- Year in Review, Economics and Trade.pdf
Chapter 1 Section 2- Tools to Address […]

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Ronald O’Rourke, China’s Actions in South and East China Seas: Implications for U.S. Interests—Background and Issues for Congress, R42784 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 1 August 2018).
If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download a cached copy here.
You can also click here to access the report via the new public CRS website.
 
KEY EXCERPTS:
USE OF CHINA COAST GUARD SHIPS, […]

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Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress, RL33153 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 1 August 2018).

If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download a cached copy here.
You can also click here to access the report via the new public CRS website.
 
Summary

The question of how the United States should respond to […]

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INFORMATION & ANALYSIS CONCERNING CHINA’S MARITIME MILITIA:

Tracking China’s “Little Blue Men”—A Comprehensive Maritime Militia Compendium
Rarely is a topic so little recognized and so little understood, yet so important and so amenable to research using Chinese-language open sources… To increase awareness and understanding of this important subject, here is a convenient compendium of major publications and […]

Continue Reading

Andrew S. Erickson, “Exposed: Pentagon Report Spotlights China’s Maritime Militia,” The National Interest, 20 August 2018.
For countering China’s shadowy Third Sea Force—the Maritime Militia—sunlight is the best disinfectant and demonstrated awareness is an important element of deterrence. This year’s Department of Defense report to Congress offers both.
Finally, some good news from Washington! Last Thursday the […]

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Andrew S. Erickson, “Sunlight is the Best Disinfectant: Pentagon Report Spotlights Shadowy Maritime Militia—China’s Third Sea Force,” China Analysis from Original Sources 以第一手资料研究中国, 17 August 2018.
For countering China’s Third Sea Force, sunlight is the best disinfectant and demonstrated awareness is an important element of deterrence. This year’s Department of Defense report to Congress offers both.
Finally, […]

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My take: While virtually unique and heretofore publicly obscure, China’s Maritime Militia is known clearly to the U.S. government, which monitors it closely.
A component of the People’s Armed Forces, it operates under a direct military chain of command to conduct state-sponsored activities. The PAFMM is locally-supported, but answers to the very top of China’s […]

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Since I couldn’t find a single-source location on the Internet, I decided to make my own. Now you can download PDFs of the Department of Defense’s China reports directly by year:
2018 + Accompanying Fact Sheet
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
 
Additionally, here are some highlights from, and analysis of, several of the most recent reports:
 
2017
Andrew S. Erickson, “New Pentagon China Report Highlights the Rise […]

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Click here to read the full text of the 2018 report and accompanying Fact Sheet.
Office of the Secretary of Defense, Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2018 (Arlington, VA: Department of Defense, 16 August 2018).

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Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress, RL33153 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 19 July 2018).

If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download a cached copy here.
Summary

The question of how the United States should respond to China’s military modernization effort, including its naval modernization effort, is a key issue in […]

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Ronald O’Rourke, China’s Actions in South and East China Seas: Implications for U.S. Interests—Background and Issues for Congress, R42784 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 17 July 2018).
If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download a cached copy here.
KEY EXCERPTS:
USE OF CHINA COAST GUARD SHIPS, MARITIME MILITIA, AND OIL PLATFORMS ………………………………………………………………………………………. 16
p. 16
Use of Coast Guard […]

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China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), Coast Guard, and Government Maritime Forces 2018 Recognition and Identification Guide (Suitland, MD: Office of Naval Intelligence, July 2018).
Click here to download a cached copy.
Excerpt showing three types of Sansha City Maritime Militia vessels:

FT-16 WAG Qiong Sansha Yu 00000-00100- series numbers (60 meters)
FT-17 WAG Qiong Sansha Yu 00200-series numbers (60 meters)
FT-18 […]

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INFORMATION & ANALYSIS CONCERNING CHINA’S MARITIME MILITIA:

Tracking China’s “Little Blue Men”—A Comprehensive Maritime Militia Compendium
Rarely is a topic so little recognized and so little understood, yet so important and so amenable to research using Chinese-language open sources… To increase awareness and understanding of this important subject, here is a convenient compendium of major publications and […]

Continue Reading

Ronald O’Rourke, Maritime Territorial and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Disputes Involving China: Issues for Congress, R42784 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 24 May 2018).
If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download a cached copy here.
KEY EXCERPTS:
1972 CONVENTION ON PREVENTING COLLISIONS AT SEA (COLREGs)………………………………… 13
p. 13
1972 Convention on Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs)
China and the […]

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Ronald O’Rourke,

China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress,

RL33153 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 21 May 2018).

If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download a cached copy here.
Summary

The question of how the United States should respond to China’s military modernization effort, including its naval modernization effort, is a key […]

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