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.
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CHINESE NAVAL SHIPBUILDING
An Ambitious and Uncertain Course
Edited by Andrew S. Erickson
China’s shipbuilding industry has grown more rapidly than any other in modern history. Commercial shipbuilding output jumped thirteen-fold from 2002–12, ensuring that Beijing has largely reached its […]
In the Philippines, America’s colonial legacy casts a long shadow. The military-basing agreement between the United States and the Philippines following its independence, due to expire in 1991, drew increasing Filipino elite opposition in the 1980s. In June 1991, Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption destroyed Clark Air Base. U.S. and Filipino negotiators could not agree on a […]
A timely and persuasive argument that the U.S. government can and should do far more to unleash the power of publicly-released information. Case in point: abundant open sources illuminate the activities of China’s Maritime Militia.
James E. Fanell and Ryan D. Martinson, “Countering Chinese Expansion through Mass Enlightenment,” Center for International Maritime Security, 18 October 2016.
From […]
Daniel L. Kuester, “Naval War College Professors Testify on State of South China Sea,” Navy News Service, Navy.mil, 30 September 2016.
WASHINGTON (NNS) — The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) invited two U.S. Naval War College (NWC) faculty members to testify in Washington, D.C. on understanding and countering China’s growing maritime concerns.
Andrew Erickson, professor of […]
The latest edition of the following report addresses China Maritime Militia (CMM) activity specifically. It’s high time that reports from the Department of Defense, Defense Intelligence Agency, Office of Naval Intelligence, and other organizations charged with issuing specific public estimates added their own authoritative statements on this vital issue!
Ronald O’Rourke, Maritime Territorial and Exclusive Economic Zone […]
Wow! Ryan Pickrell really gets it. Hope he can help bring this vital but all-too-under-appreciated issue to a broader audience!
Ryan Pickrell, “How the US Should Respond to China’s ‘Secret’ Weapon,” The Daily Caller, 24 September 2016.
China’s naval and coast guard ships in the South China Sea tend to draw the most attention, but a more […]
Megan Eckstein, “Experts Advocate Harder Stance Against Illegal Claims in South China Sea,” U.S. Naval Institute News, 22 September 2016.
… The experts from the U.S. Naval War College and the Center for Strategic and International Studies agreed at a House Armed Services seapower and projection forces subcommittee hearing yesterday that adherence to maritime law in […]
Andrew S. Erickson, “The South China Sea’s Third Force: Understanding and Countering China’s Maritime Militia,” Testimony before the House Armed Services Committee Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, Hearing on Seapower and Projection Forces in the South China Sea, Washington, DC, 21 September 2016.
Click here to watch the hearing on YouTube.
I deliver my main testimony (statement) […]
Click here to watch on YouTube.
I deliver my main testimony (statement) from 1:24:07–1:32:54.
I answer questions from Congressman Randy Forbes on how to address China’s Maritime Militia from 1:40:40–1:43:02, and on why the South China Sea matters to America and Americans from 1:47:02–1:48:22.
I reminisce with Congressman Rick Larsen about our April 2011 trip with […]
Christopher P. Cavas, “China’s Maritime Militia—Time to Call them Out?” Defense News, 18 September 2016.
… “China’s maritime militia is only as deniable for China as we allow it to be, and we don’t have to allow it to be deniable,” said Andrew Erickson, a professor of strategy at the US Naval War College, where he […]
HEARING:
SEAPOWER AND PROJECTION FORCES IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA
Date:
Wednesday, September 21, 2016 – 2:00pm
Location:
2212 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515
House Armed Services Committee
Subcommittees:
Seapower and Projection Forces (114th Congress)
WITNESSES
Dr. Andrew S. Erickson, Ph.D.
Professor of Strategy, China Maritime Studies Institute, U.S. Naval War College
Ms. Bonnie S. Glaser
Senior Adviser for Asia and Director, China Power Project, Center […]
Andrew S. Erickson, ed., Chinese Naval Shipbuilding: An Ambitious and Uncertain Course (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2016; paperback 15 February 2023).
Paperback edition released in 2023!
As with the previous five volumes in our “Studies in Chinese Maritime Development” series, an Amazon Kindle edition is available.
Author of:
Andrew S. Erickson, “China’s Military Shipbuilding Industry Steams Ahead, On What Course?” 1–16.
Andrew S. Erickson, […]
Jesse Johnson, “Chinese Air Force Announces ‘Regular’ Exercises Flying through Key Entryway into Western Pacific,” Japan Times, 13 September 2016.
China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force has announced that it will be organizing “regular” exercises that fly past the so-called first island chain — a key entryway into the Western Pacific that includes Japan’s Ryukyu Islands […]
Conor M. Kennedy and Andrew S. Erickson, “Riding a New Wave of Professionalization and Militarization: Sansha City’s Maritime Militia,” Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC), 1 September 2016.
Selected as one of four 2016-17 top-vote-receiving Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC) articles from pool chosen by the think tank’s leadership, 20 April 2017.
On 21 July 2013, several dozen […]
“关于在文昌木兰头规划建设三沙战略腹地和民兵渔船停泊港的建议” [Proposal for the Planning and Construction of Wenchang Mulantou Rear Area for Sansha and Harbor for Mooring Maritime Militia Fishing Vessels], submitted to the Hainan Provincial Government, 12 February 2015.
This proposal, as a result of a special assessment made by the Development Research Center of the State Council and submitted to the Hainan Provincial […]
Ronald O’Rourke, Maritime Territorial and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Disputes Involving China: Issues for Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 8 June 2016), R42784.
Summary
China’s actions for asserting and defending its maritime territorial and exclusive economic zone (EEZ) claims in the East China (ECS) and South China Sea (SCS), particularly since late 2013, have heightened concerns among […]
Peter Mattis, “A Guide to Catching Up on China’s Politics and Military,” War on the Rocks, 3 August 2016.
Coinciding with National Security Advisor Susan Rice’s recent trip to China, the White House released a statement from Rice on the U.S.-China relationship in which she opined, “There is no more consequential bilateral relationship than the U.S.-China […]
David Axe, “Little Blue Men: China Launches a Stealth Invasion in the South China Sea,” The Daily Beast, 9 August 2016.
Beijing isn’t fighting for control of disputed waters with missiles and drones—it’s using Chinese coast guard and fisherman instead.
On Aug. 6, the Chinese government sent a stealth invasion force sailing into the disputed waters surrounding […]
下平 拓哉 [Capt. Takuya Shimodaira, JMSDF], “中国第3の海上兵力: 海上民兵” [China’s Third Sea Force: The Maritime Militia], 海上自衛隊幹部学校 [Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Maritime Staff College], 8 August 2016.
これからの中国の海洋におけるパワーを判断するためには、中国海軍、第2の海軍と言われる中国海警局（China Coast Guard）、そして海上民兵(Maritime Militia)の3つの研究が欠かせません。 米海大中国海事研究所(CMSI)における海上民兵研究のスペシャリストは、アンドリュー・エリクソン(Andrew S. Erickson)教授とコナー・ケネディ(Conor M. Kennedy)研究助手でしょう。特にケネディ氏は、この新しい研究分野におけるパイオニア的存在であり、CMSIでは親しみを込めて「ミスター海上民兵」と呼ばれているほど、緻密な分析研究を続けています。
中国の海上民兵は、近年急速に活動を活発化しています。特に、東シナ海や南シナ海において中国の権利を主張するための情報収集や建築資材の運搬等、幅広い任務を果たすようになってきています。また、中国海軍艦艇への燃料や弾薬等の補給や、機雷や対空ミサイルを使ったゲリラ戦の訓練も実施されています。
エリクソン教授によれば、海上民兵に係る最近の特徴は、次のとおりです。 第1に、中国の主張を強硬に推し進めるために、単一ではなく、中国海軍、中国海警局、海上民兵の3つが協同する。
第2に、中国は、世界第2の中国海軍、世界第1の中国海警局、そして世界第1の海上民兵を有しており、海上民兵は非正規戦の最前線に立つ。
第3に、海上民兵は、平時に相手に圧力をかける上で非常に有効である。
今後、中国の海上民兵は、米国等による「航行の自由作戦」に挑戦するために、より高圧的な行動に出ることが予想され、また米国や同盟国の交戦規定(ROE)の隙をつく活動を活発化する等、ますます厄介なアクターとなってくるでしょう。多数の船団からなる海上民兵の船舶は、中国の衛星測位システム北斗で位置情報を入手していると言われていますが、部隊としての通信ネットワークについてはまだまだ問題があるようです。
(2016年7月23日記)
【エリクソン教授推薦の海上民兵に関する論文】
1) Andrew S. Erickson and Conor M. Kennedy, “China’s Maritime Militia: What It Is and […]
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
