Hi! Welcome...

Andrew S. Erickson 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.

02 July 2021

The Andrew Rhodes Bookshelf: Charting the Indo-Pacific with Maps, History & Geostrategy

Andrew S. Erickson, “The Andrew Rhodes Bookshelf: Charting the Indo-Pacific with Maps, History & Geostrategy,” China Analysis from Original Sources 以第一手资料研究中国, 2 July 2021.
Andrew J. Rhodes is a career civil servant who has served as an expert in Asia-Pacific affairs in a variety of analytic, advisory, and staff positions across the Department of Defense and the […]

01 July 2021

Today’s New Edition of “Modern Chinese Maritime Forces”—Tracks World’s Most Navy, Coast Guard & Maritime Militia Ships

Manfred Meyer (edited by Larry Bond and Chris Carlson), Modern Chinese Maritime Forces (Admiralty Trilogy Group, 1 July 2021).

“A compilation of ships and boats of the Chinese Navy, Coast Guard, Maritime Militia and other state authorities”
In terms of ship numbers, each of China’s three sea forces is the world’s largest by a large margin. For the […]

23 June 2021

Jude Blanchette in Foreign Affairs—“Xi’s Gamble: The Race to Consolidate Power & Stave Off Disaster”—Plus My Diagnosis & Recs w/ Gabe Collins

Jude Blanchette, the Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), hits the nail on the head! Xi has put CCP-directed policy on a highest-possible-stakes fast track for the 15 years between now and 2035, when he will be 82:
“In order to seize temporary advantages & forestall domestic challenges, Xi […]

23 June 2021

The 1988 Blues—Admirals, Activists, and the Development of the Chinese Maritime Identity

Fascinating new Naval War College Review article by NWC highest-distinction grad & China Maritime Studies Institute affiliate Andrew Rhodes! Innovative interdisciplinary insights…
Andrew Rhodes, “The 1988 Blues—Admirals, Activists, and the Development of the Chinese Maritime Identity,” Naval War College Review 74.2 (Spring 2021): 61–79.
This article captures the nexus of culture and strategy in describing a key […]

14 June 2021

The Ryan Martinson Bookshelf: Illuminating Xi/China’s Maritime Policies, Forces & Ops, including Latest re Whitsun Reef/Spratlys

For analysis of Chinese maritime strategy and policy, force development and deployment, and other pressing issues across the waterfront, it simply doesn’t get any better than this treasure trove. Since May 2016 I have periodically compiled and curated my Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) colleague Prof. Ryan Martinson’s superb publications. Now you can enjoy this […]

14 June 2021

Quick Look—CMSI’s 4–6 May 2021 Conference: “Large-Scale Amphibious Warfare in Chinese Military Strategy” (Taiwan Strait campaign focus)

The Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) has just released the Quick Look summary of its 4–6 May 2021 Conference on “Large-Scale Amphibious Warfare in Chinese Military Strategy.”
***Please kindly note that this Quick Look summary DOES NOT represent the views of any one individual participant, or assessments of the U.S. government.***
This conference seeks to increase […]

14 June 2021

Exceptionally Enlightening Hearing—“The United States’ Strategic Competition with China”! SASC Testimony from Matt Pottinger, Evan Medeiros, Sheena Chestnut Greitens & Bonnie Glaser

Worth watching and reading in full! The Senate Armed Services Committee had the good sense to invite a varied set of top-caliber experts to offer complementary assessments. Among their many contributions, Pottinger frames, Medeiros contextualizes, Greitens situates, and Glaser recommends…

Hearing on “The United States’ Strategic Competition with China”
Senate Armed Services Committee
Date: Tuesday, June 8, 2021
Time: 09:30 AM
Location: Dirksen […]

13 June 2021

CMSI China Maritime Report #14: “Chinese Views of the Military Balance in the Western Pacific”

Eric Heginbotham, Chinese Views of the Military Balance in the Western Pacific, China Maritime Report 14 (Newport, RI: Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute, June 2021).

Dr. Eric Heginbotham is a principal research scientist at MIT’s Center for International Studies and a specialist in Asian security issues. Before joining MIT, he was a senior political […]

09 June 2021

The Joel Wuthnow Bookshelf: PLA Organization, Development & Growing Global Activities

Dr. Joel Wuthnow is a senior research fellow in the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs within the Institute for National for Strategic Studies at the U.S. National Defense University (NDU).

Wuthnow’s research areas include Chinese foreign and security policy, Chinese military affairs, U.S.-China relations, and strategic developments in East Asia. In addition to his […]

09 June 2021

Important New CRS Report by Caitlin Campbell: “China’s Military: The People’s Liberation Army (PLA)”

Caitlin Campbell, China’s Military: The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) R46808 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 4 June 2021).
Click here to download a cached copy.

China’s military modernization is a major factor driving some observers’ concerns about China’s rise, China’s intentions toward the United States and its allies and partners, and the role China aspires to play in the […]

06 June 2021

The Elsa Kania Bookshelf: Sino-American Competition, Technological Futures & Approaching Battlefield Singularity

Elsa B. Kania is an Adjunct Senior Fellow with the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security. Her research focuses on China’s military strategy, defense innovation, and emerging technologies. Her book, Fighting to Innovate, should be forthcoming with the Naval Institute Press in 2022.

At CNAS, Ms. Kania has contributed […]

02 June 2021

PRC Researcher on President Biden’s China Experts (中国通)

David Cowhig, “PRC Researcher on President Biden’s China Experts 中国通,” 高大伟 David Cowhig’s Translation Blog, 29 May 2021.
Reposted with permission. For a cornucopia of fascinating and timely insights, fully accessible in natively-nuanced English, check out David’s many other great translations here!

About 高大伟 David Cowhig
After retirement David Cowhig translated, with his wife Jessie, Liao Yiwu’s 2019 “Bullets […]

30 May 2021

The Ian Chong Bookshelf: Academic Rigor, Sino-Asian Revelations, Real-World Relevance

Among my many blessings, it has been my good fortune to have enjoyed such a wonderful time in Princeton’s Politics Ph.D. program. My classmates there included Ian Chong, whom I’ve subsequently met up at with conferences across the United States and Asia. We’ve also overlapped as affiliates at Harvard and of the Columbia-Harvard China and […]

29 May 2021

The Oriana Skylar Mastro Bookshelf: Stanford Scholar-Servicemember Insights into Key PRC & Indo-Pacific Security Challenges

Dr. Oriana Skylar Mastro is a Center Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University where her research focuses on Chinese military and security policy, Asia-Pacific security issues, war termination, and coercive diplomacy. She is also Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and an inaugural Wilson Center China Fellow.

Mastro continues to […]

28 May 2021

The Rush Doshi Bookshelf: Policy-Relevant Scholarship on America’s Indo-Pacific Interests, China’s Grand Strategy & Techno-Economic Competition

Among his many top-caliber publications, Rush Doshi (杜如松) coauthored a cutting-edge chapter for the Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI)’s Naval Institute Press volume on Chinese naval shipbuilding!
Dr. Doshi brought leading expertise to his recent positions as the Director of The Brookings Institution China Strategy Initiative and a fellow in Brookings Foreign Policy, […]

28 May 2021

The Cristina Garafola Bookshelf: A RAND Researcher-Practitioner’s Insights into China’s Air Force, Military Modernization & Deterrence Efforts

I’ve been following Cristina’s pathbreaking work closely ever since I saw her present illuminating research on People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) forces at the China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI)’s inaugural conference at RAND in June 2015. In addition to policy positions at State and Treasury, Cristina has applied her analytical insights […]

27 May 2021

Honored to be Cited by Jacqueline Deal on PLA Budgeting in Politico’s “China Watcher”

Jacqueline Deal, “China Could Soon Outgun the U.S.,” Politico China Watcher, 27 May 2021.

Welcome, China Watchers. This week’s guest host is Jacqueline Deal, senior fellow of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, co-founder of the American Academy for Strategic Education and president of LTSG, a defense consultancy. She’s been tracking China’s military buildup for two decades and has testified frequently before the congressional U.S.-China Economic […]

27 May 2021

On the Great Wall with Joe Biden: A Retrospective

On the Great Wall with Joe Biden: A Retrospective
Andrew S. Erickson
As a summer intern at U.S. Embassy Beijing in 2001, I spent a day with then-Senator Biden on the Great Wall and in a nearby village. This afforded an unusual opportunity for extended conversation with him and observation of him interacting with others, particularly Chinese […]

27 May 2021

Illuminating China Brief Article by Joel Wuthnow: “What I Learned From the PLA’s Latest Strategy Textbook”

Joel Wuthnow, “What I Learned From the PLA’s Latest Strategy Textbook,” Jamestown China Brief 21.11 (25 May 2021).
A must-read! Joel Wuthnow’s analysis of the new (2020) edition of PLA NDU’s Science of Military Strategy, a key PLA textbook. It contains a number of updates in response to PLA reforms, but also suggests a revision to the military strategic […]