18 January 2025

Samuel B. Griffith Foundation Names “Chinese Amphibious Warfare” 2025 Publication of the Year

2025 Samuel B. Griffith Foundation Reading List

Purpose. To establish a list of recommended readings related to the legacy and scholarship of Brigadier General Samuel B. Griffith II, USMC (ret). This list will be reviewed by the Foundation annually and amended as needed to include key books, publications, and other media associated with Samuel Griffith’s life and studies.

Publication of the Year. For 2025, the Samuel B. Griffith Foundation has selected Study No. 8, Chinese Amphibious Warfare: Prospects for a Cross-Strait Invasion, edited by Dr. Andrew S. Erickson, Conor M. Kennedy, and Ryan D. Martinson (2024). This conference volume draws on insights from leading experts to examine Beijing’s pursuit of its ultimate strategic prize: Taiwan. Incisive, informative, and prescient, this publication examines the PLA’s progress toward Xi Jinping’s Taiwan-focused “Centennial Military Building Goal” for 2027, evaluates its prospects for success in a cross-Strait invasion, and outlines the steps Taiwan—with American support—must take to strengthen deterrence during this decade of maximum danger.

📚 Announcing the 2025 Annual Reading List from the Samuel B. Griffith Foundation!

We are proud to present this year’s curated reading list, honoring the legacy of Brigadier General Samuel B. Griffith II, USMC (Ret.) and providing critical insights into Chinese military studies. This collection amplifies authoritative sources and expert voices while equipping warfighters with the knowledge required to advance their understanding of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

🏆 Highlights include:

The Book of the Year: “Struggle for Empire: The Battles of General Zuo Zongtang” by Dr. Kenneth Swope (2024)

The Publication of the Year: “Study No. 8, Chinese Amphibious Warfare: Prospects for a Cross-Strait Invasion,” edited by Dr. Andrew Erickson, Conor Kennedy, and Ryan D. Martinson (2024)

💡 From Core Readings like Griffith’s seminal translation of “The Art of War” to Advanced Readings such as “Moving the Enemy: Operational Art in the Chinese PLA’s Huai Hai Campaign,” this curated list is designed to benefit both those new to the field, and also, those with prior knowledge.

COMPLETE INFORMATION ON THE SAMUEL B. GRIFFITH FOUNDATION’S 2025 PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR:

Andrew S. Erickson, Conor M. Kennedy, and Ryan D. Martinson, eds., Chinese Amphibious Warfare: Prospects for a Cross-Strait Invasion (Newport, RI: Naval War College Press, 7 November 2024).

Coauthor of:

  • Andrew S. Erickson, Conor M. Kennedy, and Ryan D. Martinson, “Introduction: Taking Taiwan by Force? Chinese Amphibious Warfare in the New Era,” 1–12.
  • Andrew S. Erickson and Gabriel B. Collins, “Deterring (or Defeating) a PLA Invasion: Recommendations for Taipei,” 457–72.

Two-part summary of volume:

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A FULL-TEXT PDF.

The China Maritime Studies Institute is thrilled to announce the publication of our latest conference edited volume, “Chinese Amphibious Warfare: Prospects for a Cross-Strait Invasion.” Edited by Dr. Andrew Erickson, Professor Conor Kennedy and Professor Ryan Martinson, this is a volume you will want to download immediately and reference frequently!

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Through concerted efforts over the past quarter-century, the People’s Republic of China has achieved the most dramatic military buildup since World War II. Previously limited in its ability to conduct its Joint Firepower Strike, Joint Blockade, and Joint Island Landing Campaigns against Taiwan, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is making rapid progress across the board as it prepares to meet the requirements of Xi Jinping’s Taiwan-focused Centennial Military Building Goal of 2027. Drawing on research, writing, and insights from some of the world’s leading experts, CMSI’s latest edited conference volume probes key questions concerning Beijing’s determined pursuit of the Chinese Communist Party’s ultimate political and strategic prize: How might the PLA attempt to execute a Joint Island Landing Campaign to achieve a cross-Strait invasion of Taiwan, what might be its prospects for success, and what must Taiwan—with American support—do urgently to shore up deterrence? The findings are nuanced but bracing. The saving grace, till now, is that Taiwan enjoys formidable defensive geography, and a large-scale amphibious invasion is one of the most difficult military operations to accomplish. However, under Xi’s concerted directives, China’s military is reforming relentlessly, bringing critical new capabilities to bear, and training tirelessly to improve its ability to carry out the operations on which it is bore-sighted. The stakes could scarcely be higher, and the clock is ticking.

BLURBS

Singularly comprehensive and timely. Chinese Amphibious Warfare is indispensable in assessing Taiwan Strait scenarios, China’s regional maritime objectives and capabilities, and Beijing’s increasing global maritime influence. Necessarily wide in scope, yet rich in detail, it is both an authoritative primer and matchless reference for all interested in the potential for and possible outcomes of conflict in a fraught region and beyond.”

ADMIRAL GARY ROUGHEAD, U.S. Navy (Ret.), former Chief of Naval Operations and Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet

There is a vast and ever-growing literature on the issue of whether China intends to invade Taiwan. But much of this literature ignores an equally important issue: is China capable of invading Taiwan? No other non-classified work even comes close to this book’s comprehensive coverage of this critical question of China’s capacities. No future discussion of potential Taiwan Strait scenarios will be complete unless it incorporates the findings and insights of this book. Its thoughtful and thought-provoking implications extend far beyond the military realm.”

DR. MICHAEL SZONYI, Frank Wen-Hsiung Wu Memorial Professor of Chinese History and former Director, Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University; Author of Cold War Island: Quemoy on the Front Line

This meticulous and compelling study concludes that China is developing the capabilities for a cross-Strait invasion in a comprehensive manner. It also makes clear that the forced annexation of Taiwan would be a daunting and costly mission for the PLA. Chinese Amphibious Warfare makes clear that the time is now to help Taiwan strengthen its defenses.”

LIEUTENANT GENERAL H. R. MCMASTER, U.S. Army (Ret.), 25th U.S. National Security Advisor; Author of Battlegrounds and At War with Ourselves; Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University

Amid rising cross-Strait tensions, Chinese Amphibious Warfare delivers timely insights into China’s strategic calculus and military capabilities concerning Taiwan. It is a critical read for policymakers, military leaders, and others seeking to understand a contingency that holds significant implications for international security and the global economy.”

JENNIFER WELCH, Chief Geoeconomics Analyst, Bloomberg Economics; former Director for China and Taiwan, National Security Council

For a long time to come, Chinese Amphibious Warfare will be the go-to volume for understanding the PLA’s strengths and weaknesses in executing an amphibious invasion of Taiwan. Written by an impressive cohort of experts, each of twenty chapters is evidence-based in its analysis and balanced in its conclusions. The policy implications for the United States, Taiwan, and Japan are sobering, but the authors identify ways to complicate PLA operations and strengthen deterrence.”

DR. RICHARD C. BUSH, former Chairman and Managing Director, American Institute in Taiwan; Nonresident Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution

 

MAPS FROM VOLUME:

SELECTED EXHIBITS FROM VOLUME:

FROM ORDER OF BATTLE APPENDIX: “CROSSING THE STRAIT? PLA AMPHIBIOUS VESSELS RELEVANT TO TAIWAN SCENARIOS”

STUDIES IN CHINESE MARITIME DEVELOPMENT
ANDREW S. ERICKSON, SERIES EDITOR
Powered by the world’s second-largest economy and defense budget, China is going to sea on a scale and with a sophistication that no continental power ever before has sustained in the modern era. Its three sea forces are all leaders in their own right: the world’s largest navy, coast guard, and maritime militia, by number of ships. They are supplied by the world’s largest shipyard infrastructure, which has achieved the largest, fastest postwar production-capacity expansion. On the civilian side, Chinese sea power is supplemented by the world’s largest fishing fleet, including in number of fishers; aquaculture and pisciculture industries; merchant marine; and marine sector overall. It has a large, nationally flagged tanker fleet and expansive global port-infrastructure networks.
Paramount leader Xi Jinping is guiding China’s transformation into a “great maritime power.” At a minimum, today’s Middle Kingdom is already a hybrid land-sea power. Amid European decline and American fiscal and strategic challenges, this historic transformation has the potential to end six centuries of largely Western dominance of the world’s oceans. The U.S. Navy and nation must understand this momentous sea change to inform strategy and policy properly. Worryingly, Beijing has the world’s most numerous and extensive disputed island/feature claims, with the largest number of other parties. Of these, no flash point looms larger than Taiwan.
Since the Chinese Maritime Studies Institute was established in 2006, it has been conducting research and holding conferences covering the broad waterfront of Chinese oceanic efforts to advise USN leadership and to support the Naval War College in its core missions of helping to define the future Navy and to support the Navy during an era of great-power competition. The Studies in Chinese Maritime Development series assembles the resulting proceedings into edited volumes focusing on specific topics of importance, to elucidate further both China’s progress and its challenges at sea.
PREVIOUS TITLES IN THE SERIES

Chronological list of CMSI’s edited “Studies in Chinese Maritime Development” conference volumes: