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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.

25 August 2015

Dredging Under the Radar: China Expands South Sea Foothold

Andrew S. Erickson and Kevin Bond, “Dredging Under the Radar: China Expands South Sea Foothold,” The National Interest, 26 August 2015.
Venturing ever further from the rivers and coasts that it helped develop in the first three decades of China’s post-Mao reforms, China’s burgeoning dredging fleet has not only excavated new land in the South China Sea, but […]

24 August 2015

New U.S. Security Strategy Doesn’t Go Far Enough on South China Sea

New Asia-Pacific Maritime Security Strategy: necessary but insufficient…
Andrew S. Erickson, “New U.S. Security Strategy Doesn’t Go Far Enough on South China Sea,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal, 24 August 2015.
The Pentagon just released an “Asia-Pacific Maritime Security Strategy.” The document articulates three regional maritime objectives heretofore insufficiently stressed and linked: “to safeguard […]

21 August 2015

United States Issues Asia-Pacific Maritime Security Strategy

A most positive and welcome development! Better late than never…
Asia-Pacific Maritime Security Strategy (Arlington, VA: Department of Defense, 20 August 2015).
INTRODUCTION
The United States has enduring economic and security interests in the Asia-Pacific region. And because the region – stretching from the Indian Ocean, through the South and East China Seas, and out to the Pacific […]

14 August 2015

Latest Edition—Ron O’Rourke’s Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report—“Maritime Territorial and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Disputes Involving China: Issues for Congress”

Ronald O’Rourke, Maritime Territorial and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Disputes Involving China: Issues for Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 7 August 2015), R42784.
If you’re having trouble downloading the report, click here for a cached copy.
Summary
China’s actions for asserting and defending its maritime territorial and exclusive economic zone (EEZ) claims in the East China (ECS) […]

12 August 2015

Dredging Fleet Shores up Beijing’s Position in South China Sea and Beyond

Andrew S. Erickson and Kevin Bond, “Dredging Fleet Shores up Beijing’s Position in South China Sea and Beyond,” Lowy Interpreter, 12 August 2015.
China’s burgeoning dredging fleet adds another piece to the country’s ‘Swiss Army Knife’ of infrastructure developmental tools that are driving its controversial island building in the South China Sea.
Long after the sediment settles […]

11 August 2015

“This the Chinese Navy!”—PLAN Ad Video Recruits Millennials with Patriotic Appeal

Chinese Navy Recruiting Video Translated — 中国海军征兵宣传片英文翻译
Click here to watch the video with English-language subtitles.
SUMMARY BY DAKO XIAWEIYI:
“We will not yield a single inch of our borders to foreigners…the struggle over maritime rights has not ended…we are ready for war.”
The message of this recruiting video is that China recovered Macao and Hong Kong in the 1990s, […]

07 August 2015

Latest Version: Ron 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 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 28 July 2015), RL33153.
If you’re having trouble downloading the report directly, click here for a cached copy.
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 […]

03 August 2015

Malaysia’s “Special Relationship” with China and the South China Sea: Not So Special Anymore

Scott Bentley, Australian Defense Force Academy, “Malaysia’s ‘Special Relationship’ with China and the South China Sea: Not So Special Anymore,” Asan Forum, 31 July 2015.
On June 2, 2015, Minister Shahidan bin Kassim held a press conference to announce an “intrusion” by a foreign vessel in the South Luconia Shoals (Beting Patinggi Ali, in Malay). A […]

02 August 2015

China SignPost™ (洞察中国) #93: “The Type 054/054A Frigate Series: China’s Most Produced and Deployed Large Modern Surface Combatant”

Morgan Clemens, Gabriel B. Collins, and Kristen Gunness, “The Type 054/054A Frigate Series: China’s Most Produced and Deployed Large Modern Surface Combatant,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国) 93 (2 August 2015).
Executive Summary and Key Points
This report discusses the evolution of the Type 054/054A frigates (FFGs) by examining their roles and missions, research, development, and acquisition, and design process […]

29 July 2015

People’s Daily Online: China’s new generation 12000 ton coast guard ship can “destroy a 5000 ton ship and sink it to the sea floor”

China’s New Generation of Coast Guard Ship is Powerful
By Jiaxin Li (People’s Daily Online)    01:14, July 29, 2015

China’s new generation of the 12,000 ton coast guard ship is designed to be used for law enforcement at sea and preventing foreign vessels from getting closer to our ship. The design of the main body of this vessel is […]

27 July 2015

Right Over Might: Keeping the South China Sea a Peaceful Part of the Global Commons

Andrew S. Erickson, “Keeping the South China Sea a Peaceful Part of the Global Commons,” The National Interest, 27 July 2015.
Andrew S. Erickson is an associate professor at the Naval War College and an associate in research at Harvard University’s Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies. This article is based on Dr. Erickson’s oral Testimony before […]

27 July 2015

China SignPost™ (洞察中国) #92: “Peaking Prematurely? China Commodity Peaks May Emerge Sooner Than Expected”

Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “Peaking Prematurely? China Commodity Peaks May Emerge Sooner Than Expected,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国) 92 (27 July 2015).

Peak China? Not yet. Peak Party? No. Peaks in demand for, and production of, specific commodities? You bet! Here’s our take…
For much of the period since 2000, China-centric commodity analysis focused like […]

27 July 2015

NWC Expert Warns U.S. House of South China Sea Challenges

Daniel L. Kuester, “NWC Expert Warns U.S. House of South China Sea Challenges,” Naval War College Public Affairs Office, 27 July 2015.
Similar version published in Seapower Magazine.

Andrew S. Erickson, associate professor at NWC in the China Maritime Studies Institute testifies before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific during its hearing on […]

25 July 2015

Chairman Salmon’s Opening Statement—Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific Hearing: “America’s Role in Ensuring Stability and Security in the South China Sea”

Chairman Salmon’s Opening Statement, As Prepared for Delivery
Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific
“America’s Role in Ensuring Stability and Security in the South China Sea”
Thursday, July 23, 2015 | 2:00 pm
Overlapping territorial claims of the South China Sea have been a source of international friction since 2009, and it’s no secret that China’s claims […]

24 July 2015

12:00 Noon, Capitol Hill Forum 24 July (Today): “Follow the Dragon Tracks: China’s Emerging Presence from the South China Sea to Facilities Access in the Indian Ocean”

July 24, 12:00 Noon, Capitol Hill Forum featuring Dr. Andrew Erickson
Invitation to the Defense Forum Foundation’s
Congressional Defense and Foreign Policy Forum
 
From:
Ambassador J. William Middendorf, II                        Suzanne Scholte
Chairman, Defense Forum Foundation                            President, DFF
 
Luncheon Topic:
“Follow the Dragon Tracks: China’s Emerging Presence
from the South China Sea to Facilities Access in the Indian Ocean”
Speaker: Dr. Andrew Erickson, Associate Professor, Naval War College 
When: Friday, July 24, 2015, […]

23 July 2015

My Testimony before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, Hearing on “America’s Security Role in the South China Sea”

Andrew S. Erickson, Testimony before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific, Hearing on “America’s Security Role in the South China Sea,” Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC, 23 July 2015.
In this testimony, I offer my assessment of the current situation in the South China Sea, followed by my recommendations […]

23 July 2015

House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia-Pacific Hearing: “America’s Security Role in the South ‪China‬ Sea”

Click here for live webcast and witness statements and bios. 
“America’s Security Role in the South ‪China Sea,” hearing by House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific | 2172 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 | Jul 23, 2015 2:00pm to 5:00pm
Witnesse
Patrick M. Cronin, Ph.D.
Senior Advisor and Senior Director
Asia-Pacific Security Program
Center for […]

19 July 2015

Trolling for History from China’s New Purpose-Built Ship: Archaeology and the South China Sea

Andrew S. Erickson and Kevin Bond, “Archaeology and the South China Sea,” The Diplomat, 20 July 2015.
A new maritime archaeology vessel is another component in China’s strategy for the South China Sea.
Recently, Vietnamese and Western media resumed reporting on China’s HD-981 oil rig, after it was redeployed to disputed waters, dredging up memories of the […]

19 July 2015

Six Years at Sea… and Counting: Gulf of Aden Anti-Piracy and China’s Maritime Commons Presence

Andrew S. Erickson and Austin M. Strange, Six Years at Sea… and Counting: Gulf of Aden Anti-Piracy and China’s Maritime Commons Presence (Washington, DC: Jamestown Foundation/Brookings Institution Press, 2015).

Now available via Amazon, including as a Kindle eBook!
Click here to purchase this book via Brookings Institution Press or from the Jamestown Store.
SUMMARY
Every wave has its genesis some distance from shore. […]