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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.

08 February 2017

China Open Source Example: Proposal to Hainan Government Reveals Maritime Militia Activities

Andrew S. Erickson, “China Open Source Example: Proposal to Hainan Government Reveals Maritime Militia Activities,” China Analysis from Original Sources 以第一手资料研究中国, 7 February 2017.
SUMMARY OF THE PROPOSAL DOCUMENT:
“关于建设南海渔业后勤补给基地, 发展南海渔业生产的建议” [Proposal on Establishing Fisheries Logistics Supply Bases and Developing Fisheries Production in the South China Sea], submitted to the Hainan Provincial Government, 2 February 2015.
In February 2015, […]

01 February 2017

The Next Generation of China’s Navy: Transformation and Transition for the PLAN

Andrew S. Erickson, “The Next Generation of China’s Navy: Transformation and Transition for the PLAN,” The Diplomat, 30 January 2017.
Read the full piece here, as the cover article in The Diplomat magazine:

Andrew S. Erickson, “The Next Generation of China’s Navy: Transformation and Transition for the PLAN,” The Diplomat Magazine 27 (February 2017).

As China’s navy undergoes a change in […]

01 February 2017

Latest China Civil Maritime Insights & More–From The Updated Ryan Martinson Bookshelf

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, and please congratulate him on his recent promotion to Assistant Professor at the Naval War College!
James E. Fanell and Ryan D. Martinson, “Countering Chinese Expansion through […]

30 January 2017

The Next Generation of China’s Navy: Transformation and Transition for the PLAN

Andrew S. Erickson, “The Next Generation of China’s Navy: Transformation and Transition for the PLAN,” The Diplomat Magazine 27 (February 2017).
As China’s navy undergoes a change in leadership, what lies ahead for the rapidly modernizing service?
On January 17, 2017, 71-year old Admiral Wu Shengli retired from a 41-year career culminating in nearly 11 years as commander […]

28 January 2017

Dean Thomas Culora Writes in Proceedings on Gray Zone Conflict and Ongoing Efforts at the Naval War College’s Center for Naval Warfare Studies to Research It

Thomas J. Culora, “Maritime Hybrid Warfare Is Coming,” Comment & Discussion, U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings 143.1 (January 2017): 8, 76.
(See J. Stavridis, pp. 30–33, December 2016 Proceedings)
Thomas J. Culora, Dean, Center for Naval Warfare Studies, Naval War College—Admiral Stavridis unpacks the strategic and operational implications and identifies the challenges presented by this asymmetric form of […]

20 January 2017

Admiral Gary Roughead, 29th Chief of Naval Operations, Assesses “Chinese Naval Shipbuilding” in Forbes

Admiral Gary Roughead, USN (Ret.), “As Trump Assesses China, Start with Facts Not Theory,” Forbes, 20 January 2017.
… For too long the changes in Chinese military capacity, the numbers of ships and aircraft, have not been part of the public discussion. Now is the time to do some real studying and dig into the facts, […]

19 January 2017

Showing off the Hardware: China’s First Aircraft-Carrier Bares its Teeth

“Showing off the Hardware: China’s First Aircraft-Carrier Bares its Teeth,” The Economist, 19 January 2017.
For Admiral Wu Shengli, the commander of China’s navy since 2006, it must have been a sweet swansong to mark his imminent retirement. In November China announced that its first and only aircraft-carrier, the Liaoning, was combat ready. On December 24th its […]

14 January 2017

Chinese Naval Shipbuilding Reviewed by Michael DeBoer at Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC)

Michael DeBoer; review of Andrew S. Erickson, ed., Chinese Naval Shipbuilding: An Ambitious and Uncertain Course (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2016); Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC), 9 January 2017.
Chinese Naval Shipbuilding Capability: An Uncertain Course adds the most recent volume to Dr. Andrew Erickson’s excellent edited collections on the increase of the People’s Republic’s military, economic, […]

06 January 2017

Chinese Naval Shipbuilding Ships Immediately When Ordered Directly from Naval Institute Press

Click here to order Chinese Naval Shipbuilding directly from Naval Institute Press.
It will ship immediately from Illinois.
(The 30 copies I ordered were delivered quickly!)

 
COMPLETE INFORMATION ON VOLUME:
Andrew S. Erickson, ed., Chinese Naval Shipbuilding: An Ambitious and Uncertain Course (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2016).
Eventually, as with the previous five volumes in our “Studies in Chinese Maritime […]

19 December 2016

Interviewed by CIMSEC President Sally DeBoer on New Book: “Chinese Naval Shipbuilding”

Sally DeBoer, “A Conversation with Dr. Andrew Erickson on Chinese Naval Shipbuilding,” Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC), 19 December 2016.
On the occasion of the publication of his newest book, Chinese Naval Shipbuilding: An Ambitious and Uncertain Course, the 6th volume in the USNI Press’ Studies in Chinese Maritime Development Series, CIMSEC spoke with editor and […]

15 December 2016

Passing a Chinese Maritime “Trump Test”

Andrew S. Erickson, “Passing a Chinese Maritime ‘Trump Test’,” The National Interest, 15 December 2016.
If the past is any guide, China may test the new administration early on. Beijing’s “maritime militia” could play an important part.
China’s Leninist leadership has rightly been termed the “high church of realpolitik.” Beijing’s leaders believe that even small changes in […]

28 November 2016

Is Trump Ready for China’s Inevitable Test of American Power?

Ryan Pickrell, “Is Trump Ready for China’s Inevitable Test of American Power?” Daily Caller, 27 November 2016.
China’s worldview prompts it to probe the strength and resolve of the dominant power, and President-elect Donald Trump will inevitably be tested.
In recent years, China has carefully tested and evaluated each new American president.
“The Leninist core of Chinese leadership thinking […]

22 November 2016

U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Scott Swift on China’s Maritime Militia: “Let’s acknowledge that it’s there. Let’s acknowledge how it’s being command-and-controlled.”

Christopher P. Cavas, “China’s Maritime Militia a Growing Concern,” Defense News, 21 November 2016.
WASHINGTON Near the top of US Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Scott Swift’s concerns is China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), and close behind is the country’s burgeoning Coast Guard. But a third government-controlled seagoing force, the little-known and somewhat mysterious maritime militia, […]

17 November 2016

Welcome Progress! U.S.-China Commission Recommends Dedicated Section on Maritime Militia for Pentagon China Report

2016 Report to Congress of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, One Hundred Fourteenth Congress, Second Session, 16 November 2016.
pp. 29-30
THE COMMISSION’S KEY RECOMMENDATIONS
The Commission considers 10 of its 20 recommendations to Congress to be of particular significance. The complete list of recommendations appears at the Report’s conclusion on page 507.
The Commission recommends:

Congress […]

17 November 2016

Just Released: 2016 Report to Congress of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission

2016 Report to Congress of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, One Hundred Fourteenth Congress, Second Session, 16 November 2016.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission has just released the 2016 Annual Report to Congress. This year’s report covers Chinese overcapacity, investment in the United States, state-owned enterprise reform, China’s military buildup, espionage threats […]

15 November 2016

China’s Naval Modernisation, Strategies, and Capabilities

Andrew S. Erickson, “China’s Naval Modernisation, Strategies, and Capabilities,” in Jo Inge Bekkevold and Geoffrey Till, eds., International Order at Sea: How it is challenged. How it is maintained. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2016), 63-92.
PART 1          PART 2          VOLUME INFORMATION          VOLUME INFORMATION & […]

08 November 2016

Ellis Joffe Prize for PLA Studies: Accepting Nominations

Dear Colleague,
The National Bureau of Asian Research is accepting nominations for the Ellis Joffe Prize for PLA Studies, an award established to honor the late Ellis Joffe, a renowned China scholar, friend, and mentor to generations of PLA watchers.
Nominations should be received by January 1, 2017.
For more information about the Joffe Prize, please contact JoffePrize@nbr.org.
 
ABOUT […]

07 November 2016

Zhuhai 2016: Mysterious J-20 Sneaks In… And Out

Gordon Arthur, “Zhuhai 2016: Mysterious J-20 Sneaks In… And Out,” 1 November 2016.
China’s fifth-generation J-20 stealth fighter made a cameo appearance during the 11th Zhuhai Air Show in China, this being its first public foray anywhere in China.
However, the brief apparition of two J-20s was limited to a disappointing couple of overhead passes lasting about […]

07 November 2016

Aligning Forces in 2016: US 7th Fleet Asia-Pacific Symposium

PO2 Matthew C. Haws, Navy Reserve NAVINFO, “Aligning Forces in 2016: US 7th Fleet Asia-Pacific Symposium,” Commander, U.S. 7th Fleet Public Affairs, 30 October 2016.

FORT WORTH, Texas —
– Navy Reserve Commander U.S. 7th Fleet (NR COMSEVENTHFLT) hosted more than 100 Sailors from active, reserve and integrated commands during the 2016 Asia-Pacific Symposium at Naval Air […]