Andrew S. Erickson

Andrew S. Erickson, “Sweeping Change in China’s Military: Xi’s PLA Restructuring,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal, 2 September 2015.
Chinese President Xi Jinping needs some positive achievements, immediately. The year began with his striking consolidation of leadership at home and abroad but has become mired in problems and widely-perceived blundering on economic issues. This […]

China doesn’t plan to reveal systematically in advance what it will display in its 3 September 2015 military parade, but that shouldn’t stop you from anticipating what might be included, preparing to recognize it when you see it, and figuring out what it all means.
Below are key links to, and distillations from, the latest […]

Capt. Christopher P. Carlson, USN (Retired), “Essay: Inside the Design of China’s Yuan-class Submarine,” U.S. Naval Institute News, 31 August 2015.
China’s evolving submarine force is a topic worthy of sober examination and debate. However, for the discussion to be useful in informing both national policy-makers and citizenry alike, the content must be based on accurate […]

William S. Murray; review of Robert Haddick, Fire on the Water: China, America and the Future of the Pacific (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2014); The Submarine Review (December 2014): 145-49.
William S. Murray is an associate research professor and the Co-Director of the Halsey Bravo research effort at the United States Naval War College. He […]

An excellent compilation of hard-hitting articles. All content below courtesy of Simon Denyer, China Bureau Chief, The Washington Post:
This month’s stock market crash has prompted a fundamental re-evaluation of the China story. Despite the fact that the market’s fortunes bear precious little relation to the real economy, the plunge has sharpened concerns about the nation’s […]

A pithy analysis of the challenges and opportunities facing China’s domestic airlines and their foreign competitors, from a noted industry expert.
Marc Szepan, “Chinese Airlines Are in It for the Long Haul,” The Diplomat, 28 August 2015.
Good news for Western aircraft manufacturers may be bad news for Western airlines
Amid turmoil in China’s stock market and concerns […]

Rarely is a topic so little recognized and so little understood, yet so amenable to research using Chinese-language open sources… To increase awareness and understanding of this important subject, here is a convenient compendium of major publications to date on the matter. If you know of others, please bring them to my attention via <http://www.andrewerickson.com/contact/>.
Andrew […]

Rigorous, measured, nuanced analysis–always in insufficient supply generally, but particularly on the vital issue of U.S.-China relations!
Thomas J. Christensen, “Obama and Asia: Confronting the China Challenge,” Foreign Affairs 94.5 (September/October 2015): 28-36.
China’s rise poses two broad challenges for U.S. foreign policy: how to deter the People’s Republic from destabilizing East Asia and how to encourage it […]

Andrew S. Erickson, “Follow the Dragon Tracks: China’s Emerging Presence From the South China Sea to Facilities Access in the Indian Ocean,” keynote address to Congressional Defense and Foreign Policy Forum, Defense Forum Foundation, B-339 Rayburn House Office Building, Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, 24 July 2015.

Click here to read a full-text transcript of the presentation.
Download […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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) […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]