Andrew S. Erickson

The international community keeps a close watch on China’s security policy and its military trends. The Japanese public has been increasingly aware of the large impact of China’s rising military (and economic) power that may have a huge impact on Japanese security. China, now the second largest economy in the world, has become an essentially […]

“After Glasgow—The Good, the Bad, and the Hopeful,” Virtual Meeting, Council on Foreign Relations, 19 November 2021.
Click here to watch on YouTube!

Our panelists review the recent COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, including climate action since the Paris Accords and how governments and businesses can step up to address the complex challenges of climate change and adaptation.
Speakers
Andrew S. […]

Andrew S. Erickson, “North Korea Scenario and PRC Response: Layered Containment and Management of a Collapse-Induced Maritime Exodus,” presented via Zoom at conference sponsored by the Korea Maritime Institute (KMI) and Harvard Belfer Center, 22 November 2021.
Maritime Security and Peace on the Korean Peninsula
Mon., Nov. 22, 2021 | 7:00pm – 9:00pm

Join us for this Zoom Webinar event.
The […]

2021 Report to Congress of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, One Hundred Seventeenth Congress, First Session, 17 November 2021.
Click here to download a cached copy of the full text.

Topics this year include the CCP’s ambitions and challenges at its centennial, China’s influence in Latin America and the Caribbean, the CCP’s economic and technological ambitions, […]

Great to speak with Gordon Arthur for his latest piece! I long enjoyed catching up with “King Arthur” and fellow defense journalists at the Zhuhai Airshow, and really miss those days! But now we continue our tracking of PLA developments by other open source means—and here you can read about the latest PRC military maritime […]

“Pentagon Report Issues ‘Clarion Call’ Over Chinese Military Ambitions,” ANI News, 8 November 2021.

… The CMPR [China Military Power Report] only covers developments till the end of 2020, the better part of a year ago. For that reason, it did not mention the test of a fractional orbital bombardment system (FOBS) several months ago. A […]

Andrew S. Erickson, interviewed by Harry J. Kazianis, “How Powerful Is China’s Military? The Pentagon’s New China Report Offers Answers,” 19FortyFive, 12 November 2021.
Editor’s Note: Having distilled the 2021 China Military Power Report (CMPR)’s key findings into a six-page summary last week, Dr. Andrew S. Erickson now offers his big-picture conclusions and recommendations.

Q: What’s the biggest […]

Updated 7 November 2021
The Pentagon’s 2021 China Military Power Report: My Summary
Worth Waiting For—Now No Time to Waste!
Andrew S. Erickson
Andrew S. Erickson, “The Pentagon’s 2021 China Military Power Report: My Summary,” China Analysis from Original Sources 以第一手资料研究中国, 5 November 2021.

Click here for a printable PDF version.
Despite coming out late in the year, the Pentagon’s 2021 […]

Despite coming out late in the year, the Pentagon’s 2021 China Military Power Report (CMPR) was worth the wait!
Since the first edition in 2000, the annual CMPR issued by the Department of Defense (DoD) has offered government-verified data on China’s meteoric military rise simply unfindable or unconfirmable anywhere else.
Among today’s top takeaways: in a shocking […]

Now that the Department of Defense (DoD) has just released the 2021 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 […]

Pathbreaking contribution by J. Michael Dahm, a retired U.S. Navy intelligence officer and a senior researcher at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Among his Indo-Pacific assignments, he formerly served as Assistant U.S. Naval Attaché in Beijing—& graciously hosted me & my CMSI colleagues there. Check out the revealing accompanying graphics: 47 figures & 7 […]

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, 30 October 2021.

As Coronavirus rages on, fishy things have been happening across the South and East China Seas, home to virtually all of China’s unresolved maritime disputes… Since Beijing remains far from being fully forthcoming and transparent, it is to be hoped […]

The Honorable Carlos Del Toro, 78th Secretary of the Navy, One Navy-Marine Corps Team—Strategic Guidance from the Secretary of the Navy (Washington, DC: U.S. Navy Office of Information, 8 October 2021).
Click here to download a cached copy.

 KEY CHINA-RELATED EXCERPTS:
p. 1
Since my confirmation as the 78th Secretary of the Navy, I have characterized the most pressing challenges facing the […]

Honored to publish Oxford University Press’s Oxford Bibliography on “The People’s Liberation Army (PLA)” with Ian Burns McCaslin! 74 pages of entries cover leading works in the field, each with a convenient summary. When we started compiling this 3+ years ago, we wondered why there weren’t more such resources… We learned the hard way—and want […]

As part of Ronald O’Rourke’s continuous incremental improvements, this 254th (!) edition of his report on Chinese naval modernization incorporates numbers provided by the U.S. Navy. And that’s on top of the numbers from the soon-to-be-superceded Pentagon’s 2020 China Military Power Report. Given the authoritative analysis supporting these revelations, and the rarity with which they are made […]

This Library of Congress report is indispensable for policy-makers and analysts alike!

Ronald O’Rourke, U.S.-China Strategic Competition in South and East China Seas: Implications for U.S. Interests—Background and Issues for Congress, R42784 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 6 October 2021).
If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download a cached copy here.
You can also click here to access the […]

Honored to speak with the hosts CDR Salamander and EagleOne, and all participating in our discussion! 
We spoke live at 5 P.M. (EDT) on 24 October 2021 for Midrats Episode 606: China’s Dangerous Decade with Andrew Erickson…

Click here to listen to the 66-minute podcast!
Andrew S. Erickson, “China’s Dangerous Decade with Andrew Erickson,” Midrats Podcast Episode 606, […]

Click here to access more information on how to apply via Harvard’s HR website.
 

Faculty of Arts and Sciences

55985BR

Job-Specific Responsibilities
The Executive Director (ED) of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies (FCCS) and the Harvard China Fund (HCF) plays a critical role in leading two of the university’s key centers for research, teaching and outreach regarding Greater […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Gabriel B. Collins, “A Dangerous Decade of Chinese Power Is Here,” Foreign Policy, 18 October 2021.
China’s Power is Peaking—As is the Danger for the United States
Beijing knows time isn’t on its side and wants to act fast.

U.S. and allied policymakers are facing the most important foreign-policy challenge of the 21st century. China’s […]