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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.

03 February 2020

CMSI China Maritime Report #5: “China’s Dreadnought? The PLA Navy’s Type 055 Cruiser and Its Implications for the Future Maritime Security Environment”

Coauthored by CMSI’s Director, Deputy Director, and Founding Director!
Daniel Caldwell, Joseph Freda, and Lyle Goldstein, China’s Dreadnought? The PLA Navy’s Type 055 Cruiser and Its Implications for the Future Maritime Security Environment, China Maritime Report 5 (Newport, RI: Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute, February 2020).
Click here to download a cached copy.

Summary
China’s naval modernization, a […]

02 February 2020

Timely New Congressional Research Service Report: “Renewed Great Power Competition”

Ronald O’Rourke, Renewed Great Power Competition: Implications for Defense—Issues for Congress, R43838 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 31 January 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 […]

01 February 2020

99th Edition of O’Rourke’s CRS Report Offers Latest Content on CCG, PAFMM—“U.S.-China Strategic Competition in South & East China Seas: Background & Issues for Congress”

Now in its 99th iteration, not far behind its counterpart on PLA Navy development, this 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 January 2020).
If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download […]

01 February 2020

Latest Edition of Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report: “China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background & Issues for Congress”

This latest iteration of new streamlined version includes an updated table and discussion for busy readers seeking the latest on PLAN force structure development, plus some China Coast Guard ship numbers for good measure! 
Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress, RL33153 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 22 January 2020).

If you have trouble […]

24 December 2019

CMSI China Maritime Report #4: “Civil Transport in PLA Power Projection”

Conor M. Kennedy, Civil Transport in PLA Power Projection, China Maritime Report 4 (Newport, RI: Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute, December 2019).

Summary
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has ambitious goals for its power projection capabilities. Aside from preparing for the possibility of using force to resolve Beijing’s territorial claims in East Asia, it is also charged […]

23 December 2019

New O’Rourke CRS Report Offers Latest Content on CCG, PAFMM—“U.S.-China Strategic Competition in South & East China Seas: Background & Issues for Congress”

Now in its 95th iteration, this 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, 20 December 2019).
If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download a cached copy here.
You can also click here to […]

23 December 2019

New Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report: “China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background & Issues for Congress”

This latest iteration of new streamlined version includes an updated table and discussion for busy readers seeking the latest on PLAN force structure development, plus some China Coast Guard ship numbers for good measure! 
Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress, RL33153 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 20 December 2019).

If you have trouble […]

21 December 2019

Traditional Chinese-Language Edition of “The China Questions: Critical Insights into a Rising Power” Published by City University of Hong Kong Press

陸德芙 [Jennifer Rudolph] and 宋怡明 [Michael Szonyi], 編 [Editors]; 余江 [Yu Jiang] and 鄭言 [Zheng Yan], 譯 [Translators], 中國36問—對一個崛起大國的洞察 [The China Questions: Critical Insights into a Rising Power] (香港 [Hong Kong]: 香港城市大學出版社 [City University of Hong Kong Press], 2019).

Traditional Chinese translation of my chapter in this volume: 艾立信 [Andrew S. Erickson], “中國的軍事力量有多強大?” [How Strong Are China’s Armed Forces?], 63–68.

Price:
HK$168.00
(适用于本地付运)
US$25.00
(适用于香港以外地区)
ISBN: 978-962-937-403-7
平装本: 292 页
尺寸: 152 […]

01 December 2019

New O’Rourke CRS Report Has Latest Content on CCG, PAFMM—“U.S.-China Strategic Competition in South & East China Seas: Background & Issues for Congress”

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, 26 November 2019).
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.
 
KEY EXCERPTS:
USE OF CHINA COAST GUARD […]

28 November 2019

Chris Rahman, Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources & Security, Reviews “China’s Maritime Gray Zone Operations”

Chris Rahman, Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources & Security; review of Andrew S. Erickson and Ryan D. Martinson, eds., China’s Maritime Gray Zone Operations (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2019); Marine Policy 110 (December 2019).
China’s Maritime Gray Zone Operations is the seventh edited volume in the Studies in Chinese Maritime Development series published in collaboration with […]

21 November 2019

O’Rourke’s Latest Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report: “China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background & Issues for Congress”

This latest iteration of new streamlined version includes an updated table and discussion for busy readers seeking the latest on PLAN force structure development, plus some China Coast Guard ship numbers for good measure! 
Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress, RL33153 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 18 November 2019).

If you have trouble […]

16 November 2019

Xinjiang Production & Construction Corps: Key Policy Tool from Mao to Xi

The pathbreaking exposé of Xinjiang policy under Xi just published by Austin Ramzy and Chris Buckley in The New York Times contains the following reference to a decades-old organization that continues to undergird PRC development and control of the long-repressed region:
“In the 2014 speeches, Mr. Xi had singled out southern Xinjiang as the front line […]

14 November 2019

The Indo-Pacific Strategy Report & its Implementation to Date: Highlights from Twin Documents

https://www.state.gov/a-free-and-open-indo-pacific-advancing-a-shared-vision/
A Free and Open Indo-Pacific: Advancing a Shared Vision (Washington, DC: Department of State, 4 November 2019).
Click here to download a cached copy.
 p. 4
Secretary of State Michael Pompeo:
President Donald J. Trump has made U.S. engagement in the Indo-Pacific region a top priority of his Administration. In November 2017 in Vietnam, he outlined a vision for a […]

14 November 2019

U.S.-China Economic & Security Review Commission Issues 2019 Report

2019 Report to Congress of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, One Hundred Sixteenth Congress, First Session, 14 November 2019.
Click here to read a cached copy of the full text.
Report PDFs
2019 Annual Report to Congress
2019 Executive Summary
2019 Recommendations to Congress

2019 in Review

Chapter 1 Section 1- Year in Review, Economics and Trade
Chapter 1 Section 2- Year […]

11 November 2019

Honored to furnish quotes for major PLA Navy feature by Shephard Asia-Pacific Editor Gordon Arthur in Naval Warfare International

Gordon Arthur, “Eclipsing the Competition,” Naval Warfare International 2.6 (November/December 2019): 9-13.
“Regarding the modernisation of China’s navy, which celebrated its 70th anniversary in April, Andrew Erickson, professor of strategy at the US Naval War College, told Shephard: ‘Chinese naval development enjoys top-level support, starting with [President] Xi himself. China has the world’s largest shipbuilding […]

10 November 2019

Latest China Security Report from Japan’s National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS) Focuses on PRC Eurasian Activities. Access Complete Set of English/Japanese/Chinese Reports (from 2010 onward) Here.

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 […]

30 October 2019

Make China Great Again: Xi’s Truly Grand Strategy

Here I argue that that the People’s Republic of China under Xi has the grandest, most strategic vision of any great power today. Beijing’s strategy has a broadly-defined arc that Washington should address with its own strategy of pursuing “competitive coexistence” to safeguard American interests sustainably amid increasing PRC assertiveness.
Andrew S. Erickson, “Make China Great […]

28 October 2019

The China Maritime Militia Bookshelf: Complete with Latest U.S. Official Statements & My Fact Sheet + Recommendations

INFORMATION & ANALYSIS CONCERNING CHINA’S MARITIME MILITIA:

Tracking China’s “Little Blue Men”—A Comprehensive Maritime Militia Compendium
Rarely is a topic so little recognized and so little understood, yet so important and so amenable to research using Chinese-language open sources… To increase awareness and understanding of this important subject, here is a convenient compendium of major publications and […]

26 October 2019

Commemorating 50th Anniversary of Moon Landing at International Astronautical Congress—Papers & Presentations on LM Program Director Joe Gavin

People often ask how I ended up pursuing the extremely fulfilling, and somewhat esoteric, career that I’m so fortunate to enjoy now. The two-word answer is: “Joe Gavin.” Best known as the Program Director for the Apollo Lunar Module that landed the first—and thus far only—twelve men on the moon, he also happened to be my grandfather. Hearing […]