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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.

01 July 2020

Countering Coercive Envelopment: How to Resist PRC Political-Maritime Control in Asia and Beyond

Andrew S. Erickson, “Countering Coercive Envelopment: How to Resist PRC Political-Maritime Control in Asia and Beyond,” testimony at hearing on “China’s Maritime Ambitions,” U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and Nonproliferation, via WebEx to Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC, 30 June 2020.
COUNTERING COERCIVE ENVELOPMENT:
HOW TO RESIST PRC […]

30 June 2020

Honored to Testify at House Committee on Foreign Affairs Hearing Today: “China’s Maritime Ambitions”

House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs
Subcommittee: Asia, the Pacific, and Nonproliferation
China’s Maritime Ambitions
June 30, 2020 3:00 PM
2172 Rayburn House Office Building and virtually via Cisco WebEx
 
WITNESSES
Gregory B. Poling
Senior Fellow for Southeast Asia
Director, Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative
Center for Strategic and International Studies

Witness Statement
Witness Truth in Testimony
Witness Biography

Dr. Oriana Skylar Mastro
Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
Assistant Professor of Security Studies, Georgetown University

Witness […]

30 June 2020

China SignPost™ (洞察中国) #102—“Policy Options to Impose Costs on Beijing’s Coercive Envelopment of Hong Kong: Version 1.0”

Gabriel Collins, J.D., Baker Botts Fellow in Energy & Environmental Regulatory Affairs, Baker Institute for Public Policy
Andrew S. Erickson, Ph.D., Professor of Strategy, China Maritime Studies Institute, Naval War College[1]
Hong Kong’s long-deteriorating situation has come to a head. On 30 June 2020, Beijing railroaded through a popularly-opposed National Security Law negating the Special Autonomous Region’s judicial […]

29 June 2020

The Hong Kong Watch Floor

An unclear, but clearly worrisome, future has arrived. Now that Beijing has adopted, and will be implementing, a popularly-opposed National Security Law that effectively invalidates core One Country, Two Systems-promised protections, risks are mounting for Hong Kongers. Under assault: some of their most cherished values and freedoms, and Hong Kong’s much-touted status as Asia’s World City.
Hong […]

16 June 2020

Why the Compacts of Free Association Matter to Washington

A timely treatment of a vital American interest, one that the Trump Administration has rightly prioritized.
Grant Wyeth, “Why the Compacts of Free Association Matter to Washington,” The Diplomat, 9 June 2020.
With its eyes on China, the United States seeks to reaffirm its presence in the western Pacific.
Last week, virtual meetings were held between officials from the U.S. […]

09 June 2020

Tension High, Altitude Higher: Logistical and Physiological Constraints on the Indo-Chinese Border

The Sino-Indian border dispute is a significant subject with broad ramifications. It is likely to become even more so as the world’s two most populous great powers face growing domestic challenges amid enduring issues of bilateral contention. All too often, however, emerging new data are granular, unclear, and difficult for outside observers to verify. MIT […]

01 June 2020

O’Rourke’s Latest CRS Report (*106th ed.) Offers CCG, PAFMM Updates—“U.S.-China Strategic Competition in South & East China Seas: Background & Issues for Congress”

Now in its 106th iteration, not far behind its counterpart on PLA Navy development, 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, 28 May 2020).
If you have trouble accessing […]

01 June 2020

Latest CRS Report Edition—“China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities”—Projections to 2030 from Office of Naval Intelligence

Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress, RL33153 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 21 May 2020).
Having trouble accessing the website above? Please download a cached copy here!
You can also click here to access the report via the new public CRS website.
In addition to his continuous incremental improvements, Ronald O’Rourke has revised this latest edition […]

01 June 2020

U.S. Limits the People’s Liberation Army’s Ability to Use Nonimmigrant Visa Programs to Illicitly Acquire U.S. Technologies and Intellectual Property

U.S. Limits the People’s Liberation Army’s Ability to Use Nonimmigrant Visa Programs to Illicitly Acquire U.S. Technologies and Intellectual Property
PRESS STATEMENT
MICHAEL R. POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE
JUNE 1, 2020
On May 29 President Trump issued a proclamation that limits the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) ability to misuse nonimmigrant student and researcher visa programs. The Trump Administration is […]

29 May 2020

Press Conference Transcript on China, Hong Kong, and the WHO—“Remarks by President Trump on Actions Against China”

“Remarks by President Trump on Actions Against China,” The White House Rose Garden, Washington, DC, 2:48 p.m. EDT, 29 May 2020.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Good afternoon. Thank you. I’m here today to talk about our relationship with China and several new measures to protect American security and prosperity.
China’s pattern of misconduct is well […]

25 May 2020

The Hong Kong Watch Floor

The clock is ticking toward an unclear, but clearly worrisome, future. As Beijing prepares to implement a popularly-opposed National Security Law that effectively invalidates core One Country, Two Systems-promised protections, risks are mounting for Hong Kongers. Under assault: some of their most cherished values and freedoms, and Hong Kong’s much-touted status as Asia’s World City.
Hong Kong’s […]

22 May 2020

China’s Official 2020 Defense Budget to Rise 6.6% to $178 Billion (1.27 Trillion Yuan): Lowest Growth Rate Since 1988 Exceeds All Other Major Nations’

Andrew S. Erickson, “China’s Official 2020 Defense Budget to Rise 6.6% to $178 Billion (1.27 Trillion Yuan): Lowest Growth Rate Since 1988 Exceeds All Other Major Nations’,” China Analysis from Original Sources 以第一手资料研究中国, 22 May 2020.
The draft budget report disseminated today at Beijing’s Two Sessions annual meeting of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and National […]

21 May 2020

United States Strategic Approach to the People’s Republic of China

Be sure to read this hard-hitting document in full!
STATEMENTS & RELEASES
Text of a Letter to Certain Congressional Committees on the United States Strategic Approach to the People’s Republic of China
NATIONAL SECURITY & DEFENSE
Issued on: May 21, 2020
May 19, 2020
Dear Mr. Chairman:  (Dear Madam Chairwoman:)
Consistent with section 1261 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year […]

20 May 2020

Should the United States Reduce Its Dependence on China?

Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “Should the United States Reduce Its Dependence on China?” Policy Matters podcast, Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, TX, 19 May 2020.
The Covid-19 pandemic has reignited the debate about our national dependence on Chinese raw materials and manufactured goods. Why should we be concerned about such dependence? […]

20 May 2020

Dragon Against the Sun: Chinese Views of Japanese Seapower

As one might expect from Dr. Yoshihara, this is a superb analysis of a vital yet under-researched topic. Its compelling arguments are well supported with a panoply of important Chinese publications, together with references to landmark Japanese works. In an era in which Chinese-language sources are increasingly prized but not always contextualized and curated effectively […]

15 May 2020

“Renewed Great Power Competition”—Latest Edition of Important New CRS Report

Ronald O’Rourke, Renewed Great Power Competition: Implications for Defense—Issues for Congress, R43838 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 1 May 2020).
If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download a cached copy here.
You can also click here to access the report via the new public CRS website.
Summary
Many observers have concluded that the post-Cold War era of international relations—which […]

15 May 2020

Ron O’Rourke’s New CRS Report (*105th ed.) Has Latest on CCG, PAFMM—“U.S.-China Strategic Competition in South & East China Seas: Background & Issues for Congress”

Now in its 105th iteration, not far behind its counterpart on PLA Navy development, 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, 1 May 2020).
If you have trouble accessing […]

11 May 2020

Energy Dimensions of the Evolving U.S.-China Strategic Relationship

Andrew S. Erickson, “Energy Dimensions of the Evolving U.S.-China Strategic Relationship,” Center for Energy Studies, Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice University, Houston, TX, presentation in webinar via Zoom, 8 May 2020.
Click here to watch the webinar on YouTube.
Gabriel Collins of the Baker Institute’s Center for Energy Studies and Andrew Erickson of the U.S. Naval […]

06 May 2020

It’s Official: Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) Seeks New Director—Apply by 22 June!

Faculty Position Vacancy (Director of the China Maritime Studies Institute, SORD, CNWS)
Click here to read the full ad!
View posting in The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Job announcement number:  VA#NWC-20-07
Department:  Strategic and Operational Research Department, Center for Naval War Studies
Location:  U.S. Naval War College, Newport, RI
PP-Series-GR:  AD-1701-05/07
Open Period:  Wednesday, 6 May 2020 through Monday, 22 June 2020
Position:  […]