Andrew S. Erickson

Great scholarship, intriguing and timely read!
William J. Norris, Chinese Economic Statecraft: Commercial Actors, Grand Strategy, and State Control (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2016).

In Chinese Economic Statecraft, William J. Norris introduces an innovative theory that pinpoints how states employ economic tools of national power to pursue their strategic objectives. Norris shows what Chinese economic statecraft is, how […]

This is an instance in which the saying “You can’t un-ring the bell” would appear to apply…
During Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang’s Regular Press Conference on 7 April 2016, the following exchange occurred (key quotations underlined):
Q: Over the past few years, there have been frequent confrontations between fishing boats from China, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam […]

Ronald O’Rourke, Maritime Territorial and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Disputes Involving China: Issues for Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 22 December 2015), 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 […]

Phillip C. Saunders and Joel Wuthnow, China’s Goldwater-Nichols? Assessing PLA Organizational Reforms (Washington, DC: Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University, April 2016).
The Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs (CSCMA), part of National Defense University’s Institute for National Strategic Studies, has just published INSS Strategic Forum 294—“China’s Goldwater-Nichols? Assessing PLA Organizational Reforms.” […]

Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 31 March 2016), RL33153.
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. Observers of Chinese and U.S. military forces view China’s improving naval capabilities as posing a potential […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Joel Wuthnow, “Barriers, Springboards and Benchmarks: China Conceptualizes the Pacific ‘Island Chains’,” The China Quarterly 225 (March 2016): 1-22.

Barriers, Springboards and Benchmarks: China Conceptualizes the Pacific “Island Chains”
Andrew S. Erickson, US Naval War College, Newport, RI; and Joel Wuthnow, US National Defense University, Washington, DC
Abstract
US government reports describe Chinese-conceived “island chains” in the Western […]

Sam LaGrone, “China Defends Deployment of Anti-Ship Missiles to South China Sea Island,” USNI News, 30 March 2016.
… Last month, news broke that China had deployed several HQ-9 anti-air missiles batteries to Woody Island after the U.S. conducted a freedom of navigation operation (FON op) near Chinese holdings at nearby Triton Island. …
“While the HQ-9 deployment was a […]

Andrew S. Erickson, “Raining Down: Assessing the Emergent ASBM Threat,” Jane’s Navy International, 16 March 2016.
Contents

A2/AD capability
Reconnaissance/strike complex
Iran’s enigmatic ‘ASBM’
Potential countermeasures
ASBMS: RE-BALANCING STRATEGIC COMPETITION?
COMMENT

The anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) has been portrayed as a game-changing weapon that threatens the dominance of the carrier strike group (CSG). Andrew Erickson examines emerging ASBM capabilities, assesses their potential operational […]

Sophisticated, thought-provoking, a great contribution!
Ian E. Rinehart, The Chinese Military: Overview and Issues for Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 24 March 2016), R44196.
Summary
China is building a modern and regionally powerful military with a limited but growing capability for conducting operations away from China’s immediate periphery. The question of how the United States should respond […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Capt. Christopher P. Carlson, USNR (Ret.), “Sustained Support: the PLAN Evolves its Expeditionary Logistics Strategy,” Jane’s Navy International, 9 March 2016.
Click here to access the majority of the article.
Contents

Projecting force
Sustaining forces
Special delivery
Remote maintenance
Supporting facilities
UNDERWAY REPLENISHMENT
COMMENT

As China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy seeks to support sustained operations at distance, Andrew Erickson and Christopher Carlson discuss its strategy and tools for supporting this new international […]

I strongly recommend this brilliant piece by my CMSI colleague Toshi Yoshihara in the latest issue of Naval War College Review! He provides a brilliant assessment of China’s use of  conventional and irregular forces, including two maritime militia trawlers, in hybrid warfare. Definitely a must-read! Scan the first two paragraphs below, and you’ll see why immediately…
Toshi Yoshihara, […]

On Thursday 24 March the Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC) will host the second annual CIMSEC Forum for Authors and Readers (CFAR), an event for our readers and the public to engage our contributors on their work and topics of interest. Thanks to the generous support of CNA we are pleased to offer a professional workshop on a range of maritime security issues. The […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Conor M. Kennedy, “China’s Maritime Militia,” CNA Corporation, 7 March 2016.

An important component of China’s local armed forces is the militia—an armed mass organization of mobilizable personnel who retain their normal economic responsibilities in daily civilian life. A reserve force of immense scale, the militia is organized at the grassroots level […]

Victor Robert Lee, “China Expands Land Filling at North Island in the Paracels—Satellite Images Also Show Dredging of a New Harbor Basin,” The Diplomat, 7 March 2016.
Posted with the author’s permission.

Satellite imagery from March 2nd, 2016 shows a marked expansion of China’s dredging and land filling at North Island in the Paracels. The newly manufactured […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Adam P. Liff, “The Limits of Growth: Economic Headwinds Inform China’s Latest Military Budget,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal, 5 March 2016.
With an official defense budget increase of 7.6% to 954 billion yuan ($147 billion) announced today, Beijing’s quest to restore China’s historic “greatness” and to attain international status as […]

At the National People’s Congress (NPC), Beijing announced a 2016 military budget of $146.67 billion (954.35 billion yuan), an increase of 7.6% from last year’s budget.
Regardless of what other Chinese defense spending is not reflected in these figures, China clearly has the world’s second largest economy and the world’s second largest military budget.
Balanced, sustainable […]

At the National People’s Congress last March, Beijing announced a 2015 military budget of 886.9 billion yuan (~$144.2 billion), a 10.1% increase from the previous year. This year, the projected military budget increase will reportedly be lower, around 7-8%. Regardless of what other Chinese defense spending is not reflected in these figures, China clearly has […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Adam P. Liff, “Installing a Safety on the ‘Loaded Gun’? China’s Institutional Reforms, National Security Commission and Sino-Japanese Crisis (In)Stability,” Journal of Contemporary China 25.98 (March 2016): 197–215.

Abstract
As China’s active assertion of its claim to the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands has increasingly crowded the surrounding waters and airspace with military and paramilitary forces, the […]

A sweeping PLA reorganization is underway, with vast, far-reaching implications! Here’s what to read on this vital subject—analysis that’s most reliable and precise.
All content posted here with explicit written permission from the publisher.
Kenneth Allen, Dennis J. Blasko, and John F. Corbett, “The PLA’s New Organizational Structure: What is Known, Unknown and Speculation (Part 2),” Jamestown China Brief 16.4 […]