09 June 2016

Putting “Meat on the Bones” of the U.S.-Japan Alliance Coordination Mechanism

Thomas Storch, “Putting ‘Meat on the Bones’ of the U.S.-Japan Alliance Coordination Mechanism,” Sasakawa USA Forum, Issue 2, 1 June 2016.
U.S.-Japan alliance coordination has historically been hindered by structural challenges, such as the lack of a mutual defense pact or a joint operational command structure, as exist in both the U.S.-South Korea alliance and the […]

Continue Reading

06 June 2016

“China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress”: Latest Edition of Ron O’Rourke’s Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report

Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 31 May 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 […]

Continue Reading

02 June 2016

Team Tsai Ing-wen: a Who’s Who of the New Cabinet

A handy guide with useful analysis on a vital and timely subject!
Lauren Dickey, “Team Tsai Ing-wen: a Who’s Who of the New Cabinet,” Jamestown Foundation China Brief 16.9, 1 June 2016.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen took office on May 20 with no shortage of challenges ahead. Her inaugural speech focused on five specific areas: transforming economic […]

Continue Reading

02 June 2016

The Courage to Fight and Win: The PLA Cultivates Xuexing for the Wars of the Future

Ryan D. Martinson, “The Courage to Fight and Win: The PLA Cultivates Xuexing for the Wars of the Future,” Jamestown Foundation China Brief 16.9, 1 June 2016.
With all its new weapons systems and platforms, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has become a powerful military by any standard that can be quantified. But how will PLA […]

Continue Reading

24 May 2016

Chinese Navy Trains and Takes Risks

Unquestionably a must-read article by a leading expert on a vital topic! Cogent, pithy, informative, and insightful.
Capt. Dale C. Rielage, USN, “Chinese Navy Trains and Takes Risks,” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings 142.5 (May 2016): 36-41.
Improvements in Chinese Navy multi-mission platforms have seen a focus on realistic training.
In the past decade, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army […]

Continue Reading

24 May 2016

Shepherds of the South Seas

Be sure to read in full this superb, path-breaking article by my CMSI colleague Ryan Martinson. For analysis of Chinese maritime policy and China Coast Guard development, it simply doesn’t get any better than this!
Ryan D. Martinson, “Shepherds of the South Seas,” Survival 58.3 (2016): 187-212.

Abstract

The huhang in strategic context
Huhang operations: backstop of economic…
The […]

Continue Reading

20 May 2016

Doctrinal Sea Change, Making Real Waves: Examining the Naval Dimension of Strategy

Andrew S. Erickson, “Doctrinal Sea Change, Making Real Waves: Examining the Naval Dimension of Strategy,” in Joe McReynolds, ed., China’s Evolving Military Strategy (Washington, DC: Jamestown Foundation, 2016), 99-132.
PART 1           PART 2           PREFACE & VOLUME INFORMATION

Available through Brookings Institution Press.
Reprinted as “新たな波紋を広げている海洋変革ドクトリン ――中国の海洋戦略に関する検証” [Doctrinal Sea Change, Making Real Waves: Examining the Naval […]

Continue Reading

19 May 2016

Steaming Ahead, Course Uncertain: China’s Military Shipbuilding Industry

Andrew S. Erickson, “Steaming Ahead, Course Uncertain: China’s Military Shipbuilding Industry,” The National Interest, 19 May 2016.
“In recent years, China’s navy has been launching new ships like dumping dumplings [into soup broth].” This phrase has circulated widely via Chinese media sources and websites. Accompanying it are ever-more-impressive analyses and photographs, most recently of China’s first indigenous […]

Continue Reading

18 May 2016

“China Security Report 2016” from Japan’s National Institute for Defense Studies

From Japan’s National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS, 防衛研究所), a worthy complement to the U.S. Department of Defense’s annual report to Congress on Chinese military and security issues!
Click here for the full text of the 2016 report.
The international community keeps a close watch on China’s security policy and its military trends. The Japanese public has […]

Continue Reading

18 May 2016

How Good Are They? The Latest Insights Into China’s Military Tech

Andrew S. Erickson, “How Good Are They? The Latest Insights Into China’s Military Tech,” War on the Rocks, 18 May 2016.
It’s that time of year again, and the end of an era. On Friday, the Obama Administration released the last annual Pentagon China report under its watch. Working the China military observers’ graveyard shift this […]

Continue Reading

17 May 2016

From Frontier to Frontline: Tanmen Maritime Militia’s Leading Role—Part 2

Conor M. Kennedy and Andrew S. Erickson, “From Frontier to Frontline: Tanmen Maritime Militia’s Leading Role—Part 2,” Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC), 17 May 2016.
Tanmen Militia’s Leading Role in the 2014 Haiyang Shiyou (HYSY)-981 Oil Rig Standoff, Spratly Features Construction, and Beyond

Our series on the leading maritime militias of Hainan Province continues with this second installment […]

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

14 May 2016

The Pentagon’s 2016 China Military Report: What You Need to Know

Andrew S. Erickson, “The Pentagon’s 2016 China Military Report: What You Need to Know,” The National Interest, 14 May 2016.

Friday’s Department of Defense (DoD) report to Congress on Chinese military and security developments is the last issued under the Obama Administration. Amid geopolitical uncertainty, it was a respectable final contribution. Nevertheless, it suffers from an unfortunate shortcoming. […]

Continue Reading

14 May 2016

Obama Pentagon’s Last China Report: Covers Most Bases Commendably, But Misses Maritime Militia

Andrew S. Erickson, “Obama Pentagon’s Last China Report: Covers Most Bases Commendably, But Misses Maritime Militia,” China Analysis from Original Sources 以第一手资料研究中国, 14 May 2016.
The end of an era… Friday’s Department of Defense (DoD) report to Congress on Chinese military and security developments is the last issued under the Obama Administration. Amid geopolitical uncertainty, it was a respectable […]

Continue Reading

13 May 2016

Key Quotes, Data & Themes from 2016 U.S. Department of Defense Report on China’s Military & Security Developments

A hefty report at 145 pages! Highly informative, well worth a read. It documents a rapidly developing Chinese military and paramilitary, inspired by a far-reaching “China Dream,” in the throes of ambitious reforms.
Major missed opportunity: no mention of Maritime Militia whatsoever. On that vital topic, you’re still stuck with this next-best analysis.
Key Quotations from text […]

Continue Reading

13 May 2016

U.S. Department of Defense Annual Report to Congress—“Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2016”—Click here to read the full text report

Click here to read the full text of the 2016 report.

Continue Reading

13 May 2016

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia Briefs the Media—Watch Abraham Denmark unveil 2016 DoD China report:

Click here to watch the live webcast.

Continue Reading

13 May 2016

U.S. Department of Defense Annual Reports to Congress on China’s Military Power—2002-16—Download Complete Set Here

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:
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:
2015
Andrew S. Erickson, “What Does the Pentagon Think about China’s Rising […]

Continue Reading

11 May 2016

PLA Recruiting Ad: The Rap Video—Annotated Translations by Dr. Kevin Jensen & Prof. Mark Metcalf

PLA Recruiting Ad: The Rap Video
中国军网发布2016征兵宣传片:战斗宣言
Click here to watch on YouTube
酷炫的征兵宣传片一部满足不了你?我们给你一打!征兵宣传片混剪,最精彩的画面、最具血性的镜头都在这里,看完它,你就是下一位军营男神!
Background and summary from South China Morning Post:
‘Just waiting for the order to kill, kill, kill’: China’s military tries to woo young recruits with slick video featuring rock and rap soundtrack

Excerpts from video translated by Kevin A. Jensen, Ph.D., former Assistant Professor of Chinese, United […]

Continue Reading