31 December 2020

A Tragedy of 2020—The Hong Kong Canary in the PRC Coal Mine

Tragedy overhangs a deadened metropolis. Under gathering clouds, the many Hong Kongers who remain face grave disappointments, setbacks, and risks. Beijing has adopted, and is implementing with swift suffocation, a popularly-opposed National Security Law that invalidates core One Country, Two Systems-promised protections. Fast eroding: some of Hong Kongers’ most cherished values and freedoms. Among the many sad losses […]

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23 December 2020

Advantage At Sea: U.S. Maritime Strategy Focuses On China

Andrew S. Erickson, interviewed by Harry J. Kazianis, “Advantage At Sea: U.S. Maritime Strategy Focuses On China,” 19FortyFive, 22 December 2020.

Republished in RealClearDefense.

Editor’s Note: We recently spoke with Dr. Andrew Erickson, a professor of strategy in the U.S. Naval War College (NWC)’s China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI), to get his take on the newly released U.S. maritime strategy, Advantage […]

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19 December 2020

The China Maritime Militia Bookshelf: Latest Data, Official Statements, Wikipedia Entry… & Now—Force Size!

Andrew S. Erickson, “Tracking China’s ‘Little Blue Men’—A Comprehensive Maritime Militia Compendium,” China Analysis from Original Sources 以第一手资料研究中国, 19 December 2020.

As Coronavirus rages on, fishy things have been happening across the South and East China Seas, home to virtually all of China’s unresolved maritime disputes… Since Beijing remains far from being fully forthcoming and transparent, it is to be hoped […]

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19 December 2020

O’Rourke’s New CRS Report—“U.S.-China Strategic Competition in South & East China Seas”—Offers Latest CCG + PAFMM Info

This Library of Congress report is indispensable for policy-makers and analysts alike!

Ronald O’Rourke, U.S.-China Strategic Competition in South and East China Seas: Implications for U.S. Interests—Background and Issues for Congress, R42784 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 17 December 2020).
If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download a cached copy here.
You can also click here to access the […]

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19 December 2020

CRS Report on “China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities”—Sole Publisher of PLAN Force Size through 2040 (U.S. Navy Projections)

Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress, RL33153 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 17 December 2020).
Having trouble accessing the website above? Please download a cached copy here!
You can also click here to access the report via the public CRS website.

In addition to his continuous incremental improvements, Ronald O’Rourke has revised this latest edition […]

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19 December 2020

Regional Responses to U.S.-China Competition in the Indo-Pacific: Australia and New Zealand

Michael S. Chase and Jennifer D. P. Moroney, Regional Responses to U.S.-China Competition in the Indo-Pacific: Australia and New Zealand RR-4412/1-AF (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2020). 
This report on Australia and New Zealand is part of a project examining the perspectives of U.S. allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific as they formulate and implement their responses to […]

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18 December 2020

CMSI China Maritime Report #11: “Securing China’s Lifelines across the Indian Ocean”

Jeffrey Becker, Securing China’s Lifelines across the Indian Ocean, China Maritime Report 11 (Newport, RI: Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute, December 2020).
How is China thinking about protecting sea lines of communication (SLOCs) and maritime chokepoints in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) in times of crisis or conflict? Relying on Chinese policy documents and […]

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17 December 2020

The Andrew Rhodes Bookshelf: Guiding Leaders through the Indo-Pacific with Geo-History, Strategy & Visual Communications

Andrew J. Rhodes is a career civil servant who has served as an expert in Asia-Pacific affairs in a variety of analytic, advisory, and staff positions across the Department of Defense and the interagency. He earned a BA in political science from Davidson College in Davidson, NC, an MA in international relations from Johns Hopkins […]

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17 December 2020

The Challenges in Resetting U.S.–Southeast Asia Relations

Ja Ian Chong, “The Challenges in Resetting U.S.–Southeast Asia Relations,” East Asia Forum, 10 December 2020.
Ja Ian Chong is Associate Professor of Political Science at the National University of Singapore.
The incoming Biden administration needs to be ready for a Southeast Asia that is more skeptical of US commitment and careful about Beijing’s reactions. Southeast Asian […]

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17 December 2020

Advantage at Sea: Prevailing with Integrated All-Domain Naval Power

A well-written, high-impact, must-read document. Includes a great graphic showing the very first public estimates of China Maritime Militia ship numbers that I’ve seen (courtesy of the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence)!
Advantage at Sea: Prevailing with Integrated All-Domain Naval Power (Washington, DC: U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Coast Guard, 17 December 2020).
Click here to […]

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14 December 2020

“U.S.-China Strategic Competition in South & East China Seas”—Ron O’Rourke’s CRS Report Has Latest CCG + PAFMM Info

This Library of Congress report is indispensable for policy-makers and analysts alike!

Ronald O’Rourke, U.S.-China Strategic Competition in South and East China Seas: Implications for U.S. Interests—Background and Issues for Congress, R42784 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 25 November 2020).
If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download a cached copy here.
You can also click here to access the […]

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11 December 2020

China’s Global Navy—Today’s Challenge for the United States and the U.S. Navy

James E. Fanell, U.S. Navy (Ret.), “China’s Global Navy—Today’s Challenge for the United States and the U.S. Navy,” Naval War College Review 73.4 (Autumn 2020): 1–33.
Click here to read related testimony and article by the author.
The PRC continues to build a naval force that, if left unchallenged, will be increasingly capable of achieving sea control in […]

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10 December 2020

China Navy Ship Numbers through 2040—Unique U.S. Navy Projections Published Only by CRS—“China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities”

Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress, RL33153 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 3 December 2020).
Having trouble accessing the website above? Please download a cached copy here!
You can also click here to access the report via the public CRS website.
***
In addition to his continuous incremental improvements, Ronald O’Rourke has revised this latest edition […]

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10 December 2020

National Space Policy of the United States of America

National Space Policy of the United States of America (Washington, DC: The White House, 9 December 2020).
Related documents available via Office of Space Commerce.
Click here to read additional space policy documents.

State Department statement:
The President’s National Space Policy, released yesterday, outlines America’s principles and goals regarding our national interests and activities in space. The policy reaffirms […]

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09 December 2020

The Ryan Martinson Bookshelf: Must-Read Revelations re China’s Maritime Policies, Sea Forces & Oceanic Operations

For analysis of Chinese maritime policy and China Coast Guard development, it simply doesn’t get any better than this. Enjoy this fully updated one-stop library of my colleague Ryan Martinson’s work. It’s well worth reading all of these superb publications and interviews, even as they exceed three dozen in number!
Andrew S. Erickson, “The Ryan Martinson […]

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08 December 2020

“Renewed Great Power Competition”—New Edition of Timely CRS Report

Ronald O’Rourke, Renewed Great Power Competition: Implications for Defense—Issues for Congress, R43838 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 3 December 2020).
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
Many observers have concluded that the post-Cold War era of international relations—which […]

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06 December 2020

Chinese Arms Industry Ranks Second Behind U.S., Report Says

Brett Forrest, “Chinese Arms Industry Ranks Second Behind U.S., Report Says,” Wall Street Journal, 6 December 2020.
The country’s global sales are larger than those of Russia and European nations

China has boasted the world’s second-largest arms-manufacturing industry for the past five years, ranking behind the U.S. in sales but outstripping Russia and the top European nations, […]

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05 December 2020

Beyond Energy Focus? China’s Middle Eastern Interests, Activities & Outlook

Andrew S. Erickson, “Beyond Energy Focus? China’s Middle Eastern Interests, Activities & Outlook,” presented via Zoom at “The Gulf States: From Periphery to Center,” International Symposium sponsored by the Ezri Center for Iran & Gulf States Research and Haifa Maritime Center, University of Haifa, Israel, 3 December 2020. 
Click here to watch video via Facebook.

17:00 Introduction […]

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02 December 2020

New Rice University Baker Institute Podcast: “Holding the Line Against China”

Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “Holding the Line Against China,” Policy Matters podcast, Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, TX, 2 December 2020.
Click here to listen to the ~17 minute podcast.
Managing its relationship with China is surely the most acute geopolitical challenge facing the United States today. How should we assess the Chinese threat […]

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