Andrew S. Erickson

Joel Wuthnow investigates China’s new National Security Commission (国家安全委员会) with his typical diligence, context, and insight.
Joel Wuthnow, “Decoding China’s New ‘National Security Commission’,” CNA China Studies (November 2013), CPP-2013-U-006465-Final.
Executive summary
On November 12, 2013, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) announced the creation of a new “National Security Commission.” Although few details were offered, PRC official sources and […]

Continue Reading

This article merits extremely careful reading. Recent Chinese writings emphasize opposition to double standards and suggest that Beijing is being opposed just because it announced an ADIZ per se. In a recent commentary, for instance, Xinhua writer Wu Liming claims: “China’s announcement to establish an Air Defense Identification Zone in East China Sea has drawn criticism […]

Continue Reading

James Fallows, “How to Think About the Chinese Air-Defense News,” The Atlantic, 26 November 2013.
This is a strange development—China’s establishment over the weekend of an ADIZ, or Air Defense Identification Zone, in an expanded area of the East China Sea, eliciting alarmed reactions from Japan, the United States (which today sent two B-52s through the zone), South […]

Continue Reading

Here’s the latest ECS ADIZ news roundup from China’s official media, with the most significant article first.
 
“PLA Air Force Conducts First Patrol in Air Defense Identification Zone,” Xinhua, 23 November 2013.
BEIJING, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) — The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force conducted its first air patrol after the establishment of the East China Sea […]

Continue Reading

Watch this space…
我国划设东海防空识别区 [China Designates an Air Defense Identification Zone],  新浪军事 [Sina Military News].
中国空军战机首次巡逻东海防空识别区
国防部：中国防空识别区距某国最近约130公里
国防部：不服从东海防空识别指令将采取紧急措施
外媒称解放军防空识别区4大好处 将领空扩大12倍
独家解读: 东海中线附近是中日核心战场
解析中国防空识别区为何无台湾：有和平统一信心
空军巡逻防空识别区机型猜想：运8侦察歼10保障
独家解析：东海防空识别圈与我国东海主张线一致
日本抗议中国防空识别区涵盖钓鱼岛
日媒评中国设防空识别区：或激化钓鱼岛局势
日本购300辆新战车目标不止钓鱼岛 还有更大野心
日裔美军上将：日本在中日钓鱼岛争端中较克制
 

我军在东海防空识别区首次巡逻
视频：我国宣布划设东海防空识别区
中国设东海防空识别区疑反制美日
我设立防空识别区对不服从者将采取措施
视频:日防卫大臣回应中国划定识别区
视频：我2艘海监船驶入钓岛12海里
视频：日称中国国内混乱殃及周边

独家图解：中日东海防空识别区重叠区示意
中国防空识别圈详细图解：中日交叉如死结
组图：中国图-154电战机巡航钓鱼岛 日军机升空监视
日本在宫古岛部署反舰导弹 矛头直指中国海军
现场图：中国海警船在钓鱼岛海域12海里巡航48天！
日右翼10月1日钓鱼岛示威 中国出动海警船拦截
组图：日本民众骂自卫队拿钱多却不能发现中国飞机

中国两架侦察机赴钓鱼岛 日战机起飞拦截(图)(23日 23:25)
日方25日拟召见我驻日大使传达日方立场(23日 22:32)
空军巡逻防空识别区机型猜想：运8侦察歼10保障(23日 18:56)
中国空军侦察机首次空中巡逻东海防空识别区(23日 18:08)
日本外务省抗议中国防空识别区涵盖钓鱼岛(23日 17:48)
外媒称解放军防空识别区4大好处 将领空扩大12倍(23日 15:20)
少将：中国设防空识别区可名正言顺检查飞行器(23日 15:12)
我少将解读中国设航空识别区：属于防御性措施(23日 15:08)
解析中国防空识别区为何无台湾：有和平统一信心(23日 14:43)
日媒评中国设防空识别区：或激化钓鱼岛局势(23日 14:34)

 
Statements by Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone may be accessed […]

Continue Reading

Statements by Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel
on the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesperson
For Immediate Release                                                                                                                                                                                   November 23, 2013
2013/1469
 
STATEMENT BY SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY
On the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone
The United States is deeply concerned about China’s announcement that […]

Continue Reading

Defense Spokesman Yang Yujun’s Response to Questions on the Establishment of The East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone
PRC Ministry of National Defense, Beijing, 23 November 2013
Q： Why does the Chinese government decide to establish the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone? Is it related to the current situation in the region?
A：Air Defense Identification […]

Continue Reading

Announcement of the Aircraft Identification Rules for the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone of the P.R.C.
BEIJING, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) – China’s Ministry of National Defense issued an announcement of the aircraft identification rules for the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone of the People’s Republic of China. Following is the full text:
Announcement […]

Continue Reading

Wendell Minnick, “Chinese UCAV Takes Maiden Flight,” Intercepts Blog, Defense News, 22 November 2013.
Photographs have appeared on Chinese military blogs purportedly showing the maiden flight of the Lijian (Sharp Sword) unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV). The photographs first appeared on Chinese language military websites: lt.cjdby.net and huanqiu.com on Nov. 21, supposedly the same day the flight occurred. According to […]

Continue Reading

Andrew S. Erickson and Austin M. Strange, “Erickson and Strange: China’s Far Seas ‘Five-Year Plan’,” Guest Blog Post for Elizabeth C. Economy, Asia Unbound, Council on Foreign Relations, 15 November 2013.
This guest post is by Andrew Erickson, an associate professor in the Strategic Research Department at the U.S. Naval War College, and Austin Strange, a researcher for the College’s China Maritime […]

Continue Reading

Andrew S. Erickson and Austin M. Strange, “Pragmatic Partners, the Unsung Story of U.S.-China Anti-Piracy Coordination,” Guest Blog Post for Elizabeth C. Economy, Asia Unbound, Council on Foreign Relations, 24 October 2013.
This guest post is by Andrew Erickson, an associate professor in the Strategic Research Department at the U.S. Naval War College, and Austin Strange, a […]

Continue Reading

As a dangerous game of budget roulette unfolds, it behooves all concerned Americans and their representatives to remember that the world continues its rapid evolution and will not wait for Washington to get its act together. With respect to the most dynamic and important region of the globe, the insights of Singapore’s founding father Lee […]

Continue Reading

Andrew S. Erickson and Austin M. Strange, “Spring Training for the Big Leagues,” Guest Blog Post for Elizabeth C. Economy, Asia Unbound, Council on Foreign Relations, 9 September 2013.
I am delighted to introduce the first of a four-part blog series that will be running through December on the PLA Navy by Andrew Erickson, an associate […]

Continue Reading

On 8 May 2013, in reviewing the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)’s annual report on Chinese military developments, I noted that “China itself needs to know how its military progress is being perceived, even as it remains free to publish whatever reports of its own it might wish.”
Now China has indeed done so, through the […]

Continue Reading

It’s always worth considering Patrick Chovanec’s cogent analysis. And when Howard Schneider and Paul Krugman raise similar concerns, you can’t afford not to pay attention.
Brad Plumer, “A Very Clear Explanation of China’s Economic Woes,” The Washington Post, 16 July 2013.
Howard Schneider, “IMF Labels China’s Economic Policy ‘Unsustainable’ As Trade Talks Are Suspended,” The Washington Post, 17 July […]

Continue Reading

National Air and Space Intelligence Center, Ballistic and Cruise Missile Threat (Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH, 2013).
Click here to read the full text of the report.
Hans Kristensen’s evaluation can be accessed here.
Issued four years after the previous iteration, this detailed report is to be welcomed. Perhaps due to the vagaries of bureaucratic processes, it […]

Continue Reading

Looking for substantive geostrategic analysis by a top Chinese scholar? Read on!
Wu Zhengyu, “Toward ‘Land’ or Toward ‘Sea’? The High-Speed Railway and China’s Grand Strategy,” Naval War College Review 66.3 (Summer 2013): 53-65.
China’s maritime development having come up against pressures and challenges in recent years, the concept of “strategic hedging”—that is, pursuit of and investment […]

Continue Reading

Incisive analysis on a timely and important topic!
Jessica Chen Weiss, “Authoritarian Signaling, Mass Audiences, and Nationalist Protest in China,” International Organization, 67.1 (January 2013): 1-35.
How can authoritarian states credibly signal their intentions in international crises? Nationalist, antiforeign protests are one mechanism by which authoritarian leaders can visibly demonstrate their domestic vulnerability. Because protests in authoritarian […]

Continue Reading

Click here to read the full text report.
Here is a summary via American Forces Press Service of statements by David F. Helvey, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, at the time of the report’s release (HT: Burgess Laird).
In extremely welcome change from last year, the 2013 report is detailed and substantive.
Text of particular interest:
ASBM
pp. 5-6:

“China is […]

Continue Reading