Archive | Blog Posts

17 December 2015

Thriller with a Purpose: “Red Phoenix Burning” by New York Times bestselling authors Larry Bond & Chris Carlson

This page-turning, technically informed novel has a serious purpose. It allows us to imagine the day when the tyrannical Kim Jong-un regime is vanquished and all Korean people enjoy freedom, including the freedom to reunify their great nation. Once I started reading this book, I couldn’t put it down, and I doubt you will be […]

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15 December 2015

Naval War College Seeks Greater Middle East-focused Naval Warfare Analyst

Here’s a great opportunity to join a world-class research community in a prime location. Do you have years of experience in warfare analysis, excellent critical thinking skills, and a desire to work closely with the best in the field? Getting tired of a Beltway commute or working from a remote location, and/or want to have […]

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05 December 2015

Academy of Military Science Researchers: “Why We Had to Develop the Dongfeng-26 Ballistic Missile”—Bilingual Text, Analysis & Related Links

China Youth Daily occasionally has in-depth articles not available elsewhere that detail otherwise-obscure aspects of Chinese development of major weapons systems. On pp. 32-33 of my book on China’s anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) development, for instance, I quote extensively from a fascinating article, published on China Youth Daily’s online portal in 2006 and subsequently removed, […]

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24 November 2015

U.S. AFRICOM Commander GEN David Rodriguez, USA Confirms: China Signed 10-Year Contract for Military Logistics Hub in Djibouti—Beijing’s 1st-Ever Overseas “Base”/Facility

Djibouti… it’s finally official!
U.S. African Command (AFRICOM) Commander General David Rodriguez, U.S. Army, has just confirmed that China has signed a 10-year contract for a military logistics hub in Djibouti. This makes the African desert nation home to Beijing’s first-ever overseas military facility, however modest, or “base” in common parlance. “They are going to build a […]

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10 November 2015

U.S. Department of Defense Annual Reports to Congress on China’s Military Power—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:
 
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 […]

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01 November 2015

Insights on U.S. South China Sea FONOPS from Two Leading Maritime Law Experts

Among a growing torrent of writings on U.S. Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPS) in the South China Sea, here are two of the most insightful pieces. Authored by Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute Director Prof. Peter Dutton and CDR Jonathan Odom of the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies—both of whom have deep knowledge […]

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01 November 2015

Maritime Militia, Dead Ahead!—Looks Like China’s Irregular Maritime Forces Were Operating in Pre-Planned Roles Near USS Lassen During its Recent FONOP

In a just-published Defense News article, Chris Cavas has made an important contribution to our understanding of the operations and applications of China’s too-long-understudied irregular maritime forces. The forces he describes are almost certainly neither ordinary merchant ship operators nor random fishermen, but rather Chinese Maritime Militia operating in pre-planned roles in conjunction with USS Lassen’s recent FONOP. Coincidence? […]

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29 October 2015

Are you a Scholar of China, Russia, Greater Middle East, Nuclear, or Cyber Security Issues? Then Consider Applying for One of These Open Rank Professorships at Navy’s Senior Academic, Research, and Gaming Institution

Here are multiple great opportunities to join a world-class research community where scholarship and policy come together daily in a prime seaside location. The oldest continuing institution of its kind in the world, and the U.S. Navy’s “Home of Thought,” the Naval War College educates and develops leaders, helps define the future Navy and associated […]

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26 October 2015

Destroyer USS Lassen (DDG-82) Conducts Freedom of Navigation Operation within 12 Nautical Miles of Subi Reef (a Low-Tide Elevation)

My initial thoughts:
Beyond 500 meters of low-tide elevations (LTEs)—features naturally below water at high tide—foreign ships and aircraft are free to operate at will without consultation or permission, as USS Lassen has just done near Subi Reef. Unlike rocks or islands, under international law, LTEs such as Subi are not entitled to the 12 nautical […]

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01 October 2015

China’s First Domestic Aircraft Carrier Almost Certainly Under Construction

Quack, Quack, Quack! Looks like CV001A’s taking shape in Dalian!
Sam LaGrone, “China’s First Domestic Aircraft Carrier Almost Certainly Under Construction,” USNI News, 30 September 2015.
China has quietly begun construction on its first domestic aircraft carrier in the same northern Chinese shipyard that refurbished the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s current Soviet-era carrier, USNI News has learned.
Several […]

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26 September 2015

Xi Jinping’s Inner Circle Offers Cold Shoulder to Western Officials

This concentration of power and decision-making, combined with severe new limitations in authoritative channels to communicate and consult back and forth with the outside world, is highly worrisome. It could be particularly problematic in the event of a foreign policy-related incident or crisis, in which both rapid decision-making and effective external consultation and communication might […]

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25 September 2015

China Completes Runway on Fiery Cross Reef

James Hardy and Sean O’Connor, “China Completes Runway on Fiery Cross Reef,” IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly, 25 September 2015.
Key Points

China has completed the runway on Fiery Cross Reef, its largest base in the Spratly Islands, Airbus Defence and Space satellite imagery dated 20 September has shown
The completion of the runway could enable China to accelerate […]

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25 September 2015

Sean O’Connor, IHS Jane’s: “China May Be Building First Indigenous Carrier”

Sean O’Connor, “China May Be Building First Indigenous Carrier,” IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly, 24 September 2015.
Click here to access set of five accompanying images offered by IHS Jane’s.
Key Points

An unidentified hull in an advanced state of construction at Dalian shipyard could be China’s first indigenous aircraft carrier
While a conclusive identification of the hull as an aircraft […]

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24 September 2015

“Peaches and Plums Do Not Talk, Yet a Path Is Formed Beneath Them”—Greg Kulacki Explains What Xi May Really Have Meant in Seattle Speech

Gregory Kulacki, “Peaches, Plums and the Challenge of Cross-Cultural Communication,” China in Focus #19, All Things Nuclear: Insights on Science and Security, Union of Concerned Scientists, 24 September 2015.
Chinese President Xi Jinping likes to use Chinese idioms in his public remarks. While speaking to a select group of U.S. luminaries in Seattle on the first day […]

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24 September 2015

Full Text: President Xi’s Speech on China-US Ties

Click here for English-language version.
Click here for Chinese-language version.
Click here for some preliminary text analysis.
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a policy speech on China-US ties Tuesday night, at a welcome banquet jointly hosted by Washington State government and friendly communities in Seattle, the United States. Xi arrived in this east Pacific coast city on Tuesday […]

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23 September 2015

Perception and Misperception in American and Chinese Views of the Other

Fascinating analysis at a critical time in U.S.-China relations and the two nations’ respective societal dynamics and domestic politics!
Alastair Iain Johnston and Mingming Shen, eds., Perception and Misperception in American and Chinese Views of the Other (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 22 September 2015).
The underlying beliefs that people in the United States and […]

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23 September 2015

Camerashy: Closing the Aperture on China’s Unit 78020

Camerashy: Closing the Aperture on China’s Unit 78020 (ThreatConnect Inc. and Defense Group Inc., 2015).
Read an overview of the report in the Wall Street Journal.
ThreatConnect Inc. and Defense Group Inc. (DGI) have partnered to share threat intelligence
pertaining to the Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) group commonly known as “Naikon” within the information security industry. Our partnership […]

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20 September 2015

Xi Jinping’s U.S. Visit: What You Need to Know

Presented by the National Bureau of Asian Research
NEW CONTENT DAILY
On September 22, President Xi Jinping will arrive in Seattle for a series of private meetings with top U.S. business leaders and his only public address. This will be his first stop in his state visit to the United States, which will also take him to […]

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16 September 2015

South China Sea: Satellite Imagery Shows China’s Buildup on Fiery Cross Reef

Victor Robert Lee, “South China Sea: Satellite Imagery Shows China’s Buildup on Fiery Cross Reef,” The Diplomat, 16 September 2015.
New capabilities of Chinese installations in the Spratlys may include sophisticated over-the-horizon radar
Reposted with author’s explicit written permission.
Recent satellite imagery of Fiery Cross in the Spratly Islands reveals that China’s construction of facilities on the reef […]

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