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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.

22 June 2018

The Economist: “China has Militarised the South China Sea and Got Away with it”

Banyan, “China has Militarised the South China Sea and Got Away with it,” The Economist, 21 June 2018.
It is not clear what the “consequences” are that America has promised
LESS than three years ago, Xi Jinping stood with Barack Obama in the Rose Garden at the White House and lied through his teeth. In response to […]

20 June 2018

The Complete China Maritime Militia Bookshelf: Fully Updated Just Now

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 […]

31 May 2018

Andrew M. McGreevy Reviews “Chinese Naval Shipbuilding” in Association of Asian Studies (AAS) Journal Education About Asia

Andrew M. McGreevy; review of Andrew S. Erickson, ed., Chinese Naval Shipbuilding: An Ambitious and Uncertain Course (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2016); Education About Asia 23.1 (Spring 2018): 63-64.
The thesis of Chinese Naval Shipbuilding: An Ambitious and Uncertain Course is that the People’s Republic of China, since 2000, has become the world leader in commercial shipping and […]

26 May 2018

Newest CRS Report by O’Rourke—“China’s Maritime Territorial & Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Disputes”—Includes Maritime Militia Analysis

Ronald O’Rourke, Maritime Territorial and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Disputes Involving China: Issues for Congress, R42784 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 24 May 2018).
If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download a cached copy here.
KEY EXCERPTS:
1972 CONVENTION ON PREVENTING COLLISIONS AT SEA (COLREGs)………………………………… 13
p. 13
1972 Convention on Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs)
China and the […]

26 May 2018

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

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 2018).

If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download a cached copy here.
Summary

The question of how the United States should respond to China’s military modernization effort, including its naval modernization effort, is a key […]

25 May 2018

Military and Security Developments Involving the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 2017

Military and Security Developments Involving the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea 2017 (Arlington, VA: Office of the Secretary of Defense, 22 May 2018).
Click here to download a cached PDF copy.
A Report to Congress Pursuant to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012
Section 1236 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, Public Law […]

24 May 2018

Revisiting the U.S.-Soviet Space Race: Comparing Two Systems in Their Competition to Land a Man on the Moon

Andrew S. Erickson, “Revisiting the U.S.-Soviet Space Race: Comparing Two Systems in Their Competition to Land a Man on the Moon,” Acta Astronautica 148 (July 2018): 376-84.
Click here for complete information on this issue of the journal.
U.S. Naval War College, United States
John King Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University, United States
Received 31 March 2018, Accepted 29 […]

24 May 2018

Scalene Perspectives, Isosceles Ideas and Equilateral Dependence: The U.S.-Europe-China “Strategic Triangle” and Transatlantic Policy

Andrew S. Erickson and Austin M. Strange, “Scalene Perspectives, Isosceles Ideas and Equilateral Dependence: The U.S.-Europe-China ‘Strategic Triangle’ and Transatlantic Policy,” China International Strategy Review 2016: 337–61.
Click here to read the online version.
The United States (US), European Union (EU) and People’s Republic of China (PRC) are sometimes viewed as a “strategic triangle”, with economic, political, and security […]

23 May 2018

Official Pentagon Statement on China’s Dis-invitation from Participating in 2018 RIMPAC Exercise

Subject: China disinvited from RIMPAC
Attributable to Department of Defense Spokesman LtCol. Christopher Logan:
“The United States is committed to a free and open Indo-Pacific. China’s continued militarization of disputed features in the South China Sea only serve to raise tensions and destabilize the region. As an initial response to China’s continued militarization of the South […]

20 May 2018

House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Hearing on “China’s Worldwide Military Expansion”

“China’s Worldwide Military Expansion,” Full Committee Hearing, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
Thursday, May 17, 2018 (9:00-11:00 AM)
2212 Rayburn House office Building (RHOB)
Washington, D.C. 
Witnesses:
Mr. Dan Blumenthal 
American Enterprise Institute

Witness Statement [PDF]
Witness Truth in Testimony [PDF]

Captain James E. Fanell, U.S. Navy (Ret.) 
Former Director of Intelligence and Information Operations, U.S. Pacific Fleet

Witness Statement [PDF]
Witness Truth in Testimony […]

10 May 2018

Making Mischief: China Has Put Missiles on Islands in the South China Sea

“Making Mischief: China Has Put Missiles on Islands in the South China Sea,” The Economist, 10 May 2018.
AN AMERICAN admiral slipped a startling admission into testimony submitted to the Senate last month. After almost five years of dredging and fortifying reefs in the disputed Spratly Islands, lying between the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam, “China is […]

10 May 2018

Re-Orienting American Sea Power for the China Challenge

 
Re-Orienting American Seapower for the China Challenge

Ryan D. Martinson and Andrew S. Erickson, “Re-Orienting American Sea Power for the China Challenge,” War on the Rocks, 10 May 2018.
Summary: this article proposes a new set of tools for countering China’s maritime gray zone expansion.
As a seafaring state, America demands maximal access to the world’s oceans within the constraints […]

08 May 2018

The Complete China Maritime Militia Bookshelf: Just Updated

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 […]

08 May 2018

The Ryan Martinson Bookshelf–Unique Insights into China’s Coast Guard, Maritime Policies, and Activities at Sea

For analysis of Chinese maritime policy and China Coast Guard development, it simply doesn’t get any better than this. Enjoy this one-stop library of my colleague Ryan Martinson’s work. It’s well worth reading all 20 of these superb publications!

Ryan D. Martinson, Echelon Defense: The Role of Sea Power in Chinese Maritime Dispute Strategy, Naval War College China […]

03 May 2018

Revisiting the U.S.-Soviet Space Race: Comparing Two Systems in Their Competition to Land a Man on the Moon

Andrew S. Erickson, “Revisiting the U.S.-Soviet Space Race: Comparing Two Systems in Their Competition to Land a Man on the Moon,” Acta Astronautica, accepted manuscript (available online 2 May 2018).
Abstract
The Cold War space competition between the U.S. and the USSR, centered on their race to the moon, offers both an important historical case and larger […]

03 May 2018

Naval War College Publishes Ryan Martinson’s CMSI ‘Red Book’ #15—“Echelon Defense: The Role of Sea Power in Chinese Maritime Dispute Strategy”

Ryan D. Martinson, Echelon Defense: The Role of Sea Power in Chinese Maritime Dispute Strategy, Naval War College China Maritime Study 15 (February 2018).
Keywords
Chinese maritime, dispute, echelon defense, sea power
ISBN
9781935352648
If you have trouble accessing the link above, please download a cached copy here.
CMSI is pleased to present the China Maritime Studies Institute’s latest monograph in its Red Book series, […]

03 May 2018

Latest Version of O’Rourke’s CRS Report—“China’s Maritime Territorial & Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Disputes”—Includes Maritime Militia Analysis

Ronald O’Rourke, Maritime Territorial and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Disputes Involving China: Issues for Congress, R42784 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 26 April 2018).

If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download a cached copy here.
KEY EXCERPTS:
1972 CONVENTION ON PREVENTING COLLISIONS AT SEA (COLREGs)………………………………… 14
p. 14
1972 Convention on Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs)
China and the United States, as […]

03 May 2018

Brand-new Edition of Ronald O’Rourke’s Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report: “China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress”

Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress, RL33153 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 25 April 2018).

If you have trouble accessing the website above, please download a cached copy here.
Summary
The question of how the United States should respond to China’s military modernization effort, including its naval modernization effort, is a key issue in […]

29 April 2018

China-Related Insights from Admiral Philip Davidson, USN; Incoming Commander, U.S. Pacific Command

Admiral Philip S. Davidson, USN, Testimony before United States Senate Committee on Armed Services, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, DC, Tuesday, April 17, 2018.
Advance Policy Questions for Admiral Philip S. Davidson, USN Expected Nominee for Commander, U.S. Pacific Command.
Click here to read the Stenographic Transcript.
CHINA-RELATED EXCERPTS FOLLOW:

Major Challenges and Priorities
In your view, what are […]