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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.

14 January 2019

Chinese Shipbuilding and Seapower: Full Steam Ahead, Destination Uncharted

Andrew S. Erickson, “Chinese Shipbuilding and Seapower: Full Steam Ahead, Destination Uncharted,” Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC), 14 January 2019.

Reprinted as Andrew S. Erickson, “Chinese Shipbuilding and Seapower: Full Steam Ahead,” The Maritime Executive, 18 January 2019. 
Reprinted as “Chinese Seapower: Full Steam Ahead, Destination Uncharted,” RealClearDefense, 25 January 2019.
Selected as one of five 2018-19 top-vote-receiving […]

14 January 2019

Capability Analysis: Chinese Evaluations of the U.S. Navy Submarine Force (Part 2 of 2)

Gabriel B. Collins, Andrew S. Erickson, Lyle J. Goldstein, and William S. Murray, “Capability Analysis: Chinese Evaluations of the U.S. Navy Submarine Force, Pt. 2,” Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC), 6 November 2018.
This article originally featured in The Naval War College Review in 2008 and is republished with permission. Read it in its original form here. Read Part One […]

14 January 2019

Capability Analysis: Chinese Evaluations of the U.S. Navy Submarine Force (Part 1 of 2)

Gabriel B. Collins, Andrew S. Erickson, Lyle J. Goldstein, and William S. Murray, “Capability Analysis: Chinese Evaluations of the U.S. Navy Submarine Force, Pt. 1,” Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC), 29 October 2018.
This article originally featured in The Naval War College Review in 2008 and is republished with permission. Read it in its original form here. It will […]

11 January 2019

The Complete China Maritime Militia Bookshelf: Includes Latest Recommendations & Fact Sheet

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 […]

11 January 2019

Forthcoming from NBR in January 2019—Strategic Asia 2019: China’s Expanding Strategic Ambitions

Strategic Asia 2019 (forthcoming)
China’s Expanding Strategic Ambitions
January 31, 2019
Forthcoming in January 2019, Strategic Asia 2019: China’s Expanding Strategic Ambitions, the eighteenth volume in the Strategic Asia series, describes how China seeks to reshape the international system to serve its strategic aims. Each chapter assesses the country’s ambitions in a particular geographic or functional area and presents policy […]

11 January 2019

Pathbreaking Article by Expert on the Security Implications of Infrastructure Finance: “Asia Rising: Ships of State?”

The commercial-strategic linkages and state support for PRC port and shipping ventures resemble a twenty-first-century version of the Dutch East India Company. These notionally commercial enterprises operate globally with the full financial and military backing of their home state, and the vessels that connect the ports are “ships of state,” functioning as instruments of Chinese […]

03 January 2019

CAPT Sean E. Thompson, USAF, Reviews “The China Questions” in Strategic Studies Quarterly

CAPT Sean E. Thompson, USAF; review of Jennifer Rudolph and Michael Szonyi, eds., eds., The China Questions: Critical Insights into a Rising Power (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2017); Strategic Studies Quarterly, March 26, 2018.
The China Questions is a compilation of 36 essays from academics affiliated with the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University. Premised on the idea that “China […]

03 January 2019

Asia Rising: China’s Global Naval Strategy and Expanding Force Structure

James E. Fanell, U.S. Navy (Ret.), “Asia Rising: China’s Global Naval Strategy and Expanding Force Structure,” Naval War College Review 72.1 (Winter 2019): 1–46.
The balance of power in the Indo-Pacific is shifting as China spends its national treasure to build a modern, blue-water navy and exerts its influence around the region, and the world, through economic […]

02 January 2019

The China Anti-Piracy Bookshelf: Statistics & Implications from Ten Years’ Deployment… & Counting

What a difference a decade makes! When the definitive histories of how China became a great sea power in the 21st century are written, an important chapter will surely be devoted to a development that reached the ten-year mark today: China’s deployment of 31-and-counting naval task forces to the Gulf of Aden since 26 December 2008.
A […]

27 December 2018

The China Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile (ASBM) Bookshelf

“Ultrafast Anti-Ship Missiles Offered for Sale,” China Daily, 25 December 2018.
China is promoting an ultrafast anti-ship ballistic missile, said to be the first of its kind in the international market, to buyers seeking a reliable and affordable deterrence against threats from the sea.
China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, the nation’s largest maker of missiles, has […]

26 December 2018

The China Anti-Piracy Bookshelf: Reflections on a Decade of PLAN Deployments to the Gulf of Aden

What a difference a decade makes! When the definitive histories of how China became a great sea power in the 21st century are written, an important chapter will surely be devoted to a development that reached the ten-year mark today: China’s deployment of 31-and-counting naval task forces to the Gulf of Aden since 26 December […]

22 December 2018

The PLA Navy’s Growing Prowess: A Conversation with Andrew Erickson

Honored to speak with Bonnie Glaser about China’s shipbuilding industry, rapid naval buildup, and what it means!
Bonnie Glaser, “The PLA Navy’s Growing Prowess: A Conversation with Andrew Erickson,” ChinaPower Podcast, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 21 December 2018.
This episode explores the rapid modernization of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and its growing […]

19 December 2018

The Complete China Maritime Militia Bookshelf: Latest & Greatest

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 […]

14 December 2018

Worth Reading in Full—Randall Schriver’s Interview: “‘Not Much Distinction’ Between China’s Navy and Militia Fishing Boats”

Yoshinari Kurose, interview with Randall Schriver: “‘Not Much Distinction’ Between China’s Navy and Militia Fishing Boats,” Japan Forward/Sankei Shimbun, 13 December 2018.

(Click here to read the original article in Japanese.)

 

Randall Schriver, United States Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, recently spoke to Yoshinari Kurose, Washington Bureau chief of The Sankei Shimbun and JAPAN Forward.
The […]

06 December 2018

The Struggle for Blue Territory: Chinese Maritime Militia Grey-Zone Operations

Conor M. Kennedy, “The Struggle for Blue Territory: Chinese Maritime Militia Grey-Zone Operations,” The RUSI Journal 163.5 (October/November 2018): 8–19.

China employs three sea forces to defend and advance its maritime claims – the People’s Liberation Army Navy, the China Coast Guard and the maritime militia. This third force plays a vital role in protecting China’s […]

26 November 2018

Shining a Spotlight: Revealing China’s Maritime Militia to Deter its Use

Andrew S. Erickson, “Shining a Spotlight: Revealing China’s Maritime Militia to Deter its Use,” The National Interest, 25 November 2018.
How China’s maritime militia threatens U.S. and allied interests—and how to counter it.
At the U.S.-China Diplomatic and Security Dialogue press conference on November 9, Defense Secretary James Mattis made a great contribution by using his top-level authority […]

21 November 2018

Preorder forthcoming National Defense University Press book: “Chairman Xi Remakes the PLA: Assessing Chinese Military Reforms”

Phillip C. Saunders, Arthur S. Ding, Andrew Scobell, Andrew N.D. Yang, and Joel Wuthnow, eds., Chairman Xi Remakes the PLA: Assessing Chinese Military Reforms (Washington, DC: National Defense University Press, 2018).
Click here to receive email notification when the final book is available or to request a hard copy.
Access the Table of Contents here.

China’s current military reforms […]

15 November 2018

U.S.-China Economic & Security Review Commission Issues 2018 Report—Highlights China’s Coast Guard & Maritime Militia

2018 Report to Congress of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, One Hundred Fifteenth Congress, Second Session, 14 November 2018.
 
Click here to read the full text.
 
Report PDFs:
2018 Annual Report to Congress.pdf
Executive Summary 2018 Annual Report to Congress.pdf
2018 Recommendations.pdf
 
Chapters: 
Chapter 1 Section 1- Year in Review, Economics and Trade.pdf
Chapter 1 Section 2- Tools to Address […]

09 November 2018

SECDEF Mattis calls for “PRC Maritime Militia to operate in a safe and professional manner in accordance with international law…”

Important statement from Secretary Mattis at U.S.-China Diplomatic and Security Dialogue (D&SD) press conference today, Friday 9 November 2018:
“We… discussed the importance of all military, law enforcement & civilian vessels & aircraft—including those in the PLA Navy, Chinese Coast Guard & PRC Maritime Militia—to operate in a safe & professional manner in accordance with […]