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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.

06 November 2017

China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI) Launches Website—Great Research Resources!

Visit CASI’s website.
Read PLA Aerospace Power: A Primer on Trends in China’s Military Air, Space, and Missile Forces.
Access useful research sources & links.
CASI’s Mission
“Everything that Flies”
CASI’s mission is to advance understanding of the capabilities, development, operating concepts, strategy, doctrine, personnel, organization, and limitations of China’s aerospace forces, which include: the PLA Air Force (PLAAF); PLA […]

01 November 2017

Japan MoD Releases White Paper: Defense of Japan 2017—Mentions China Maritime Militia, 2nd After U.S. DoD to Do So

Japan Defense White Paper mentions China Maritime Militia (p. 95):

Part of China’s Armed Forces
Xi visited
SCS ops.

FN 51-54:

Xi visited in 2013
Incidents include 2009 Impeccable & 2014 HYSY-981 oil rig
DefMin Chang visited in 2016
ADM Swift stressed w/ADM Wu

 
DEFENSE OF JAPAN 2017
Click here to download the EPUB Version.
Foreword
Special Feature 1
The 10th Anniversary of the Reorganization into Ministry of […]

31 October 2017

New CRS Report—“The North Korean Nuclear Challenge: Military Options and Issues for Congress”

Kathleen J. McInnis, Andrew Feickert, Mark E. Manyin, Steven A. Hildreth, Mary Beth D. Nikitin, and Emma Chanlett-Avery, The North Korean Nuclear Challenge: Military Options and Issues for Congress R44994 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 27 October 2017).
If you can’t access the link, click here to download a copy.
Summary
North Korea’s apparently successful July 2017 […]

29 October 2017

Full Text of Xi Jinping’s 19th National Party Congress Work Report & Related Documents

On this we should all agree: the historic Work Report that Xi Jinping delivered at China’s 19th National Party Congress on 18 October 2017 bears careful reading.
 
To that end, here’s the official Chinese-language text:
习近平, “决胜全面建成小康社会 夺取新时代中国特色社会主义伟大胜利——在中国共产党第十九次全国代表大会上的报告,” 2017年10月18日.
(In case you cannot access the link above or do not wish to do so, please scroll to […]

26 October 2017

New CSIS ChinaPower Podcast: “China’s Maritime Militia: A Conversation with Andrew Erickson”

“China’s Maritime Militia: A Conversation with Andrew Erickson,” podcast interview with Bonnie Glaser, ChinaPower Project, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, DC, 26 October 2017.
Click here to listen to the half-hour-long podcast.
In this episode, Professor Andrew Erickson joins us to discuss the origin and role of China’s maritime militia. Our conversation traces the history […]

23 October 2017

O’Rourke’s Latest CRS Report—“China’s Maritime Territorial & Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Disputes”—Compiles Reporting on Maritime Militia

Ronald O’Rourke, Maritime Territorial and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Disputes Involving China: Issues for Congress, R42784 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 16 October 2017).
 
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 well as more than 150 other countries (including all those bordering on […]

09 October 2017

Register Now for Jamestown’s 7th Annual China Defense & Security Conference: Wednesday 11 October at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

The Jamestown Foundation’s 7th Annual China Defense & Security Conference
 
DATE AND TIME
Wednesday, October 11, 2017
8:30 AM – 5:00 PM
Add to Calendar
 
LOCATION
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Root Conference Room
1779 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20036
View Map
 
ABOUT THE EVENT 
Over the past two years the Chinese Military’s activity in the East China Sea has increased dramatically. Meanwhile, the joint theater commands created […]

09 October 2017

Christopher L. Mercado Reviews “Rebalancing U.S. Forces” in Strategy Bridge/RealClearDefense

Christopher L. Mercado; review of Carnes Lord and Andrew S. Erickson, eds., Rebalancing U.S. Forces: Basing and Forward Presence in the Asia-Pacific (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2014); published originally in Strategy Bridge, republished in RealClearDefense, 2 October 2017.
Guaranteed access is a chimera.[1]
“The U.S. has lost,” President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines announced during a visit to Beijing in […]

09 October 2017

Dr. Gregory P. Gilbert Reviews “Chinese Naval Shipbuilding” for International Journal of Maritime History/Australian Naval Institute

Gregory P. Gilbert, “Chinese Naval Shipbuilding: Ambitious, Uncertain”; review of Andrew S. Erickson, ed., Chinese Naval Shipbuilding: An Ambitious and Uncertain Course (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2016); prepared originally for International Journal of Maritime History, published online via the Australian Naval Institute, 23 September 2017.
“… the international security environment is undergoing a shift from the familiar post-old Cold […]

26 September 2017

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

Happy to see my colleagues Peter Dutton and Ryan Martinson quoted in this recently-published report!
Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress, RL33153 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 18 September 2017).
Summary
China since the early to mid-1990s has been steadily building a modern and powerful navy. China’s navy in recent years has emerged […]

26 September 2017

Read Ronald O’Rourke’s Updated Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report—“China’s Maritime Territorial & Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Disputes”

Ronald O’Rourke, Maritime Territorial and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Disputes Involving China: Issues for Congress, R42784 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 15 September 2017).
 
KEY EXCERPTS:
p. 14
1972 Convention on Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs)
China and the United States, as well as more than 150 other countries (including all those bordering on the South East and South China Seas other […]

15 September 2017

Complete Set of CMSI’s China Maritime Study “Red Book” Monographs: Titles and Links to Full Text PDFs

Since August 2008, the China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) has published fourteen monographs in its China Maritime Study series, known colloquially as “Red Books.” A fifteenth volume is currently in production and will be released later this autumn. Since this series is temporarily inaccessible via the new CMSI webpage on the new Naval War College […]

14 September 2017

China Navy Ships Depart for Joint Drills with Russia

Associated Press, “China Navy Ships Depart for Joint Drills with Russia,” Washington Post, 14 September 2017.
BEIJING — Four Chinese navy ships have departed for joint drills with Russia in the latest sign of growing cooperation between the two militaries that could challenge the U.S. armed forces’ role in the Asia-Pacific.
A destroyer, missile frigate, supply ship […]

08 September 2017

Understanding China’s Third Sea Force: The Maritime Militia

Andrew S. Erickson, “Understanding China’s Third Sea Force: The Maritime Militia,” Harvard Fairbank Center Blog Post, 8 September 2017.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A FULL-TEXT PDF.
Andrew S. Erickson, professor at the U.S. Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) and Fairbank Center Associate in Research, outlines China’s evolving maritime security forces.

China’s Armed Forces are composed of three […]

29 August 2017

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

Happy to see my colleagues Peter Dutton and Ryan Martinson quoted in this recently-published report!
Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress, RL33153 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 18 August 2017).
Summary
China is building a modern and regionally powerful navy with a limited but growing capability for conducting operations beyond China’s near-seas region. […]

29 August 2017

Updated Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report—“China’s Maritime Territorial & Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Disputes”—by Ronald O’Rourke

Ronald O’Rourke, Maritime Territorial and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Disputes Involving China: Issues for Congress, R42784 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 17 August 2017).
 
Key Excerpts:
p. 14
1972 Convention on Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs)
China and the United States, as well as more than 150 other countries (including all those bordering on the South East and South China Seas other […]

28 August 2017

Jamestown China Defense & Security Conference—11 October 2017

China Defense & Security Conference 2017
Save the Date!
Wednesday, October 11
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
1779 Massachusetts Ave NW,
Washington, DC 20036
 
About the Event: 
Over the past two years the Chinese Military’s activity in the East China Sea has increased dramatically. Meanwhile, the joint theater commands created in December 2015 have had a over a year to be stood up […]

27 August 2017

“China’s Evolving Military Strategy” Volume Just Published in Japanese: 中国の進化する軍事戦略

五味 睦佳 (監修) [Gomi Mutsuyoshi (supervisor)], ジョー・マクレイノルズ (編集, その他) [Joe McReynolds (Editor)], 伊藤 和雄 (翻訳) [Ito Kazuo (Translator)], 大野 慶二 (翻訳) [Ohno Keiji (Translator)], 鬼塚 隆志 (翻訳) [Onnuka Takashi (Translator)], 木村 初夫 (翻訳) [Kimura Hatsuo (Translator)], 五島 浩司 (翻訳) [Goto Koji (Translator)], 沢口 信弘 (翻訳) [Sawaguchi Nobuhiro (Translator)], 中国の進化する軍事戦略 [China’s Evolving Military Strategy] (Tokyo: 原書房 […]

22 August 2017

China Maritime Studies Institute Faculty Brings China’s Maritime Militia Out of the Shadows

“China Maritime Studies Institute Faculty Brings China’s Maritime Militia Out of the Shadows,” The Beacon: U.S. Naval War College Newsletter 1.3 (August 2017): 14.
As part of an intensive multi-year project, Professor Andrew Erickson and Research Associate Conor Kennedy of the China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) have illuminated China’s use of a Maritime Militia to overpower […]