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.
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 […]
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).
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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 […]
2019 Report to Congress of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, One Hundred Sixteenth Congress, First Session, 14 November 2019.
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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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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).
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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).
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“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 […]
Chinese Undersea Warfare: Development, Capabilities, Trends
Maritime Gray Zone Operations: Challenges and Countermeasures in the Indo-Pacific
Oxford Bibliography: “The People’s Liberation Army (PLA)”
China’s Climate Cooperation Smokescreen: A Roadmap for Seeing Through the Trap and Countering with Competition
Large-Scale Amphibious Warfare in Chinese Military Strategy
Rebalancing U.S. Forces: Basing and Forward Presence in the Asia-Pacific
China’s Near Seas Combat Capabilities
Chinese Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile (ASBM) Development: Drivers, Trajectories and Strategic Implications
Asia’s Rising Energy and Resource Nationalism: Implications for the United States, China, and the Asia-Pacific Region
Chinese Aerospace Power: Evolving Maritime Roles
China’s S-Curve Trajectory: Structural Factors Will Likely Slow the Growth of China’s Economy and Comprehensive National Power
China, the United States, and 21st-Century Sea Power: Defining a Maritime Security Partnership
China Goes to Sea: Maritime Transformation in Comparative Historical Perspective
China’s Energy Strategy: The Impact on Bejing’s Maritime Policies
China’s Future Nuclear Submarine Force
Chinese Mine Warfare: A PLA Navy 'Assassin’s Mace' Capability
China’s Nuclear Force Modernization
