Andrew S. Erickson

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, 2 October 2019).

If you have trouble […]

Charles Horner; review of Andrew S. Erickson and Ryan D. Martinson, eds., China’s Maritime Gray Zone Operations (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2019); Naval War College Review 72.4 (2019): 176-77.
China’s Maritime Gray Zone Operations, ed. Andrew S. Erickson and Ryan D. Martinson. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2019. 352 pages. $50.
In its long history, China has deployed substantial naval […]

Andrew S. Erickson, “China’s Massive Military Parade Shows Beijing is a Missile Superpower,” The National Interest, 1 October 2019.
Washington is right to leave a missile-limiting treaty that Beijing won’t even consider joining.

Reprinted as:

Andrew S. Erickson, “China’s Missile Program Is Deadly Serious—And America Must Respond,” The National Interest, 19 November 2019.
Key point: America couldn’t stay in […]

China’s Massive 70th Anniversary Military (Missile) Parade: Here’s My Take
Andrew S. Erickson
Paramount leader Xi Jinping just presided over the largest, most impressive military parade in the history of the world. The occasion: to commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which just exceeded the Soviet Union’s lifespan by one year. The […]

Defense of Japan 2019 (Tokyo: Ministry of Defense, September 2019).
Click here to download full text.
 
p. 67
It is pointed out that, among the militia, whose status is China’s armed force other than the military, the so-called maritime militia is playing the role of the front guard for supporting China’s maritime interests.37 The maritime militia is said […]

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 […]

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, 24 September 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 […]

New streamlined version with 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, 24 September 2019).

If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download […]

Self-Study Syllabus on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (American Mandarin Society, September 2019).
Access Vocabulary List here.
Suggest edits here.
“This syllabus is organized to build understanding of the PLA in a step-by-step fashion based on one hour of reading five nights a week for four weeks. In total, the key readings add up to roughly 800 pages, rarely […]

アンドリュー・S・エリクソン [Andrew S. Erickson], 米海軍大学教授（戦略学）、ハーバード大学フェアバンクセンターの客員スカラー [Professor of Strategy, U.S. Naval War College and Visiting Scholar, Fairbank Center, Harvard University], “中国ミサイル戦力の脅威―― ＩＮＦ条約後の米アジア戦略” [Good Riddance to the INF Treaty: Washington Shouldn’t Tie Its Own Hands in Asia], フォーリン・アフェアーズ・リポート [Foreign Affairs Report], 4 September 2019.
中国ミサイル戦力の脅威
――　ＩＮＦ条約後の米アジア戦略
アンドリュー・S・エリクソン　米海軍大学戦略教授
Good Riddance to the INF Treaty Washington Shouldn’t Tie Its Own Hands in Asia
Andrew S. Erickson　米海軍大学教授（戦略学）。現在は、ハーバード大学フェアバンクセンターの客員スカラー。最近の著書にChinese Anti-Ship […]

New streamlined version with 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, 30 August 2019).

If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download […]

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 […]

I’m honored to have my research and publications cited in the following Wikipedia entries:
 
AIRCRAFT & AEROENGINES (CHINESE)
Chengdu J-20
Shenyang J-15
Shenyang WS-10
 
MISSILES (CHINESE)
Anti-ship ballistic missile
C-101
C-801 anti-ship missile
CJ-10 (missile)
DF-21
P-270 Moskit
PL-12
YJ-12
YJ-18
YJ-62
YJ-82
YJ-83
 
SUBMARINES (CHINESE)
People’s Liberation Army Navy Submarine Force
Nuclear submarine
Peng Pai
Peng Shilu
Huang Xuhua
Type 091 submarine
Type 092 submarine
Shang-class submarine
Type 095 submarine
 
WARSHIPS (CHINESE)
Chinese cruiser Zhiyuan
Type 056 corvette
 
DIEGO GARCIA
Diego Garcia
Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia
 
OTHER
China Coast […]

Ronald O’Rourke, China’s Actions in South and East China Seas: Implications for U.S. Interests—Background and Issues for Congress, R42784 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 23 August 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 SHIPS […]

Andrew S. Erickson; review of M. Taylor Fravel, Active Defense: China’s Military Strategy since 1949 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2019); Journal of Chinese Political Science 24.4 (December 2019): 701-02. (Online 30 August 2019).
Click here to access the full text of the review online.
The print version of the review is available here.
Just in time for the 70th anniversary […]

Here I argue that Washington is right to leave the missile-limiting INF Treaty, which Beijing won’t even consider joining, and suggest what this can help the United States to achieve moving forward.
Andrew S. Erickson, “Good Riddance to the INF Treaty: Washington Shouldn’t Tie Its Own Hands in Asia,” Foreign Affairs, 29 August 2019.
In early August, […]

My further thoughts, including some not quoted in this article: 
Russia wouldn’t fully honor INF. China wouldn’t join INF. Unilateral constraint was a losing proposition: China developed the world’s foremost force of missiles precisely within the ranges that INF would prohibit. So this increasingly antiquated treaty had no future.

One post-INF option for the U.S. is to […]

This article examines American bilateral military relations with China in the present context and offers policy recommendations. I propose a four-fold approach that is (1) clear and cogently communicated, (2) conditional and credible, (3) comprehensive, and (4) consistent. The U.S. should emphasize equitable reciprocity and pursue a transactional approach that recognizes that progress can occur […]

Here I offer an assessment of China’s 2019 Defense White Paper and its implications.
Andrew S. Erickson, “China’s Defense White Paper Means Only One Thing: Trouble Ahead,” The National Interest, 29 July 2019.
Observers should look elsewhere for the latest insights on the specifics of PLA development, but no one should miss the ambition, assertiveness, and resolve permeating […]