China's rapid development is reshaping the world in all dimensions. Chinese language open sources offer insights into these critical trends. While such materials are increasing constantly in number, diversity, and sophistication, only a fraction is available in English. The analyses available here, many based on sources not previously considered outside China, are designed to help bridge that gap--and thereby increase understanding of the most dynamic great power in the international system today.
Evan Osnos, “The Chinese Navy, Zambian Copper, and Libya,” Letter from China: Dispatches from Evan Osnos (Blog), The New Yorker, 28 February 2011.
…Zambia is hardly the only place that Chinese ventures have encountered security trouble in recent years. According to a tally published last August in a valuable report by the security analysts Andrew Erickson and […]
Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “Missile Frigate Xuzhou Transits Suez Canal, to Arrive off Libya ~Wednesday 2 March: China’s First Operational Deployment to Mediterranean Addresses Libya’s Evolving Security Situation,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国) 26 (27 February 2011).
China SignPost™ 洞察中国–“Clear, high-impact China analysis.”©
Current situation
Libya’s security situation is becoming increasingly volatile as embattled leader Col. Muammar […]
Gabe Collins and Andrew Erickson, “China’s New Project 718/J-20 Fighter: Development outlook and strategic implications,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国), No. 18 (17 January 2011).
Cited in “Chengdu J-20,” Wikipedia.
The Chengdu J-20 (simplified Chinese: 歼二十; traditional Chinese: 殲二十; pinyin: Jiān èr shí; literally “Annihilator Twenty”) is a fifth generation stealth, twin-engine fighter aircraft prototype developed by Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force.[5][6] In […]
Greg Torode and Minnie Chan, “PLA Navy Sends Warship to Safeguard Libya Evacuees–Frigate Diverted from Anti-Piracy Patrols to Protect Chinese,” South China Morning Post, 26 February 2011.
…The missile frigate Xuzhou is under orders to “support and protect” the more than 30,000 Chinese nationals being evacuated from Libya on civilian ships as the regime of Colonel […]
Adam Rawnsley, “Chinese Missile Ship Races to Libya for Rescue Duty,” Danger Room, Wired.com, 25 February 2011.
We’re used to seeing the U.S. Navy pull American citizens out of warzones. Now, China’s navy is doing the same thing — sending a ship to snag its people out of Libya, as the country teeters on the […]
Galrahn, “Asia Sending Ships to Libya,” Information Dissemination, 25 February 2011.
From China Signpost, Gabe Collins and Andrew Erickson offer some analysis regarding the latest news from the PLA Navy.
The PLA Navy has just dispatched Xuzhou, a Type 054 Jiangkai-II class missile frigate, from the ongoing seventh PLAN anti-piracy task force deployment off Somalia to steam to […]
Elliott Abrams, “Who’s the Superpower? Lessons from Libya,” Pressure Points Blog, Council on Foreign Relations, 24 February 2011.
China is sending a warship, among other planes and ships, to evacuate its citizens from Libya. According to the report, “The PLA Navy has just dispatched Xuzhou, a Type 054 Jiangkai-II class missile frigate, from the ongoing seventh […]
Christopher Bodeen, Associated Press, “In Unprecedented Move, China Sends Navy Ship to Protect Libya Evacuees,” Yahoo News, 25 February 2011.
BEIJING, China — China is taking the unprecedented step of dispatching a navy ship to protect its citizens being evacuated from conflict-ridden Libya — underscoring the navy’s growing capabilities and Beijing’s need to protect its citizens abroad.
[…]
Geoff Dyer, “China’s Overseas Workers in Peril,” Financial Times Blog, 25 February 2011.
Like many other nations, China has been scrambling to put together evacuation plans for its citizens stuck in crisis-torn Libya. The real surprise has been just how many Chinese are living there. The foreign ministry does not know for sure but puts the figure at 30-40,000.
[…]
Jeremy Page, “Libyan Turmoil Prompts Chinese Naval Firsts,” China Real Time Report, Wall Street Journal, 25 February 2011.
China has sent one of its most modern warships to protect vessels extracting thousands of its citizens from Libya, in the Asian power’s first naval operation in the Mediterranean Sea and its first deployment of military hardware in […]
Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “China Dispatches Warship to Protect Libya Evacuation Mission: Marks the PRC’s First Use of Frontline Military Assets to Protect an Evacuation Mission,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国) 25 (24 February 2011).
China SignPost™ 洞察中国–“Clear, high-impact China analysis.”©
What we know
The PLA Navy has just dispatched Xuzhou, a Type 054 Jiangkai-II class missile […]
Ian Easton and Mark Stokes, China’s Electronic Intelligence Satellite Developments: Implications for U.S. Air and Naval Operations (Arlington, VA: Project 2049 Institute, 23 February 2011).
A review of authoritative Chinese writings indicate that the People’s Republic of China is researching, developing, testing, and deploying a number of electronic intelligence (ELINT) satellites for the tracking and targeting […]
“China Watch: Lawyer Describes Beating, a Letter from Jack Ma,” China Real Time Report, The Wall Street Journal, 22 February 2011.
A list of what the Wall Street Journal’s reporters in China are reading and watching online, periodically updated throughout the day.
… Digging Deeper:
The home of cheap workers? The Financial Times takes a new look at […]
Vitaliy O. Pradun, “From Bottle Rockets to Lightning Bolts: China’s Missile-centric Strategy and PLA Strategy against Military Intervention,” Naval War College Review, 64.2 (Spring 2011): 7-38.
In March 1996, China conducted military exercises and live missile firings in the Taiwan Strait as a response to the increasingly pro-independence stance of Taiwan’s president, Lee Teng-hui. The United […]
Roger Cliff, John Fei, Jeff Hagen, Elizabeth Hague, Eric Heginbotham, and John Stillion, Shaking the Heavens and Splitting the Earth: Chinese Air Force Employment Concepts in the 21st Century, MG-915-AF (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2011).
Less than a decade ago, China’s air force was an antiquated service equipped almost exclusively with weapons based on 1950s-era Soviet […]
People’s Liberation Army Air Force 2010 (National Air and Space Intelligence Center: Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, 1 August 2010).
This handbook is based on information compiled from open source Chinese publications, as well as discussions with Chinese military officials and US academicians. The intent of the study is to educate US Air Force members about […]
Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “Libya Looming: Key strategic implications for China of unrest in the Arab World and Iran,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国) 24 (22 February 2011).
China SignPost™ 洞察中国–“Clear, high-impact China analysis.”©
As violence flares in Libya and elsewhere across the Arab countries and Iran, we see a number of core interests that China will […]
Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “Chinese Now Pay 33% More for Gasoline and 16% More for Diesel than Americans,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国) 23 (21 February 2011).
China SignPost™ 洞察中国–“Clear, high-impact China analysis.”©
With the latest price increase on 20 February 2011, Chinese drivers now pay more than US$4 per gallon of gasoline and diesel fuel—more […]
Andrew S. Erickson, “China, the United States, and 21st-Century Sea Power,” Interview on John Batchelor Show, 77 WABC Radio New York, 5 February 2011.
Go to section 18:13-34:44 of the podcast to hear the interview.
Saturday, 2/5/11 – Batchelor 12am
China, the United States, and 21st-Century Sea Power: Defining a Maritime Security Partnership; Edited by Andrew S. Erickson, […]
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
