Insightful analysis of General Zhang Youxia (张又侠)’s purge by K. Tristan Tang just out in Jamestown China Brief.
Unique firsthand details from Drew Thompson.
Read together, they suggest a talented top PLA leader whose power, connections, and initiative became too threatening to Xi and his objectives.
While Zhang Youxia is officially charged with #1, this fits with #2 […]
No small thing for the Central Military Commission’s #2 (behind Xi) & #4 to be investigated. And we all know how publicly-announced PRC investigations turn out…
To make sense of this major revelation, here’s some background & context on “corruption” vs. capabilities in China’s Navy & military more broadly, including regarding Taiwan per Xi’s Centennial Military Building […]
Andrew S. Erickson, “The China Navy Leadership: Corruption & Capabilities Bookshelf,” China Analysis from Original Sources 以第一手资料研究中国, 5 January 2026.
Since Xi assumed power in 2012, scores of flag and general officers and defense industry leaders have been removed. This is part of a larger pattern across China’s entire Party-State-Military bureaucracy. By my earlier tally, Xi-era […]
Andrew S. Erickson, “The China Navy Leadership Bookshelf,” China Analysis from Original Sources 以第一手资料研究中国, 8 September 2025.
Since Xi assumed power in 2012, scores of flag and general officers and defense industry leaders have been removed. This is part of a larger pattern across China’s entire Party-State-Military bureaucracy. By my running tally, Xi-era removals within China’s […]
Since Xi assumed power in 2012, an extraordinary array of flag and general officers, as well as defense industry leaders, has been removed. By my running tally, this includes:
15+ senior military officials & defense industry executives.
8 CMC members, including Vice Chairman General He Weidong.
15+ military deputies to National People’s Congress (since March 2023 alone).
79+ senior […]
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, 7 May 2025.
American and Allied knowledge of the PRC’s Third Sea Force has come a long way since my outstanding former Naval War College colleague Professor Conor Kennedy and I began our focused research following his arrival in […]
Read the latest and greatest from my brilliant my Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) colleague Prof. Ryan Martinson! Review his unique insights on PLA maritime strategy and PLA Navy personnel issues as we analyze the fall of Admiral Miao Hua (苗华) and Vice Admiral Li Pengcheng (李鹏程) and watch for more shoes to […]
Since Xi assumed power in 2012, an extraordinary array of flag and general officers, as well as defense industry leaders, has been removed. By my running tally, this includes: 15+ senior military officials and defense industry executives; 8 CMC members, including Vice Chairman General He Weidong; 14 military deputies to National People’s Congress (since March 2023 […]
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, 14 March 2025.
American and Allied knowledge of the PRC’s Third Sea Force has come a long way since my outstanding Naval War College colleague Professor Conor Kennedy and I began our focused research following his arrival in Newport […]
Read the latest and greatest from my brilliant my Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) colleague Prof. Ryan Martinson! Review his unique insights on PLA Navy personnel issues as we analyze the fall of Admiral Miao Hua (苗华) and Vice Admiral Li Pengcheng (李鹏程) and watch for more shoes to drop…
For analysis of Chinese […]
Now that the Department of Defense (DoD) has just released the 2024 China Military Power Report (CMPR)… you can access the Full Text & accompanying documents below. Since I couldn’t find a single-source location on the Internet, and the Pentagon has deactivated some of the previous links, I decided to make my own. Now you can […]
Read the latest and greatest from my brilliant my Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) colleague Prof. Ryan Martinson! Review his unique insights on PLA Navy personnel issues as we analyze Admiral Miao Hua (苗华)’s fall and watch for more shoes to drop…
For analysis of Chinese maritime strategy and policy, force development and deployment, […]
New in New Haven! After twenty-three years of superlative leadership, scholarship, teaching, and other academic and policy contributions at the U.S. Naval War College, Dr. Peter Alan Dutton, J.D., has joined Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center as a Senior Research Scholar in Law and a Senior Fellow. His updated bio is appended immediately […]
Cutting-edge cutters! Revealing commentary on the PRC’s fast-growing “Second Navy” by Professor Martinson. Bonus: Scroll down for a curated “Bookshelf” compilation of his world-class work! I guarantee you’ll find something you *didn’t yet know* you needed to know…
Ryan Martinson, “The Voyage of the Meishan and Xiushan: China’s Template for a Blue-Water Coast Guard,” War on […]
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, 5 October 2024.
American and Allied knowledge of the PRC’s Third Sea Force has come a long way since my outstanding Naval War College colleague Professor Conor Kennedy and I began our focused research following his arrival in Newport […]
Big news! Dr. Peter Alan Dutton, J.D., has just joined Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center as a Senior Research Scholar in Law and a Senior Fellow. This follows twenty-three years of superlative leadership, scholarship, teaching, and other academic and policy contributions at the U.S. Naval War College. His new bio is appended immediately […]
A national treasure here in Newport! For twenty-three years, Dr. Peter Alan Dutton has made superlative leadership, scholarship, teaching, and other academic and policy contributions at the Naval War College.
For over two decades, the NWC professor (2004–) and former China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) director (2011–19) and Interim Dean of the Center for Naval Warfare Studies […]
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, 10 June 2024.
American and Allied knowledge of the PRC’s Third Sea Force has come a long way since my outstanding Naval War College colleague Professor Conor Kennedy and I began our focused research following his arrival in Newport a […]
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, 17 January 2024.
American & Allied knowledge of the PRC’s Third Sea Force has come a long way since my outstanding Naval War College colleague Professor Conor Kennedy & I began our focused research following his arrival in Newport in […]
Chinese Undersea Warfare: Development, Capabilities, Trends
Maritime Gray Zone Operations: Challenges and Countermeasures in the Indo-Pacific
Oxford Bibliography: “The People’s Liberation Army (PLA)”
China’s Climate Cooperation Smokescreen: A Roadmap for Seeing Through the Trap and Countering with Competition
Large-Scale Amphibious Warfare in Chinese Military Strategy
Rebalancing U.S. Forces: Basing and Forward Presence in the Asia-Pacific
China’s Near Seas Combat Capabilities
Chinese Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile (ASBM) Development: Drivers, Trajectories and Strategic Implications
Asia’s Rising Energy and Resource Nationalism: Implications for the United States, China, and the Asia-Pacific Region
Chinese Aerospace Power: Evolving Maritime Roles
China’s S-Curve Trajectory: Structural Factors Will Likely Slow the Growth of China’s Economy and Comprehensive National Power
China, the United States, and 21st-Century Sea Power: Defining a Maritime Security Partnership
China Goes to Sea: Maritime Transformation in Comparative Historical Perspective
China’s Energy Strategy: The Impact on Bejing’s Maritime Policies
China’s Future Nuclear Submarine Force
Chinese Mine Warfare: A PLA Navy 'Assassin’s Mace' Capability
China’s Nuclear Force Modernization
