Andrew S. Erickson

For nearly a decade, Prof. Dutton has played a leading role in analyzing and interpreting China’s island and maritime claims, efforts to promote them, and broader goals and trajectory. He has done so for the scholarly and policy communities, the U.S. Navy, and other organizations of the U.S. government. He has drawn on an unusual—if […]

In January 2015, China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU), the nation’s leading diplomatic school, released a report American China Experts (美国 “知华派” 专家, or members of the “School of American-Experts-Who-Know-China”). CFAU Associate Dean Prof. Wang Fan led scholars and analysts from leading universities and research institutions including CFAU, the Central Party School, Peking University, Renmin University […]

Peter A. Dutton, “MOUs: The Secret Sauce to Avoiding a U.S.-China Disaster?” The National Interest, 30 January 2015.
The American and Chinese militaries have had some close calls and fatal encounters at sea and in the skies. The newly signed MOUs could help prevent future collisions.
On August 19, 2014, a U.S. Navy P-8A Poseidon maritime surveillance […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Ja Ian Chong, “The Challenge of Maintaining American Security Ties in Post-Authoritarian East Asia,” The National Interest, 29 January 2015. 
Washington must address the challenges associated with political transition to better mitigate the various risks associated with the liberal democratization of its East Asian partners. 
The United States faces challenges trying to maintain […]

Click here for more information on the House Armed Services Committee Hearing at which Frank Kendall, Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology, & Logistics), U.S. Department of Defense, recently testified.
House Armed Services Committee Hearing on Defense Department Technological Logistics
28 January 2015
Frank Kendall, Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition:
[Underlining added]
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We’re at risk and the […]

Jesse Semenza, “Very Good Book, Yet a Very Easy Read,” 4-Star Review, Amazon.com, 26 January 2015.
“‘Rebalancing U.S. Forces’ gives an in-depth look at how the U.S. and Allied forces are attempting to manage a growing and modernizing China through overseas basing and the development of new weapons systems. It also gives fresh insight into how […]

Jonathan Ray, Red China’s “Capitalist Bomb”: Inside the Chinese Neutron Bomb Program, China Strategic Perspective 8 (Washington, DC: National Defense University, January 2015).
Ray examines why China developed and tested an enhanced radiation weapon (ERW) but did not deploy it. He uses primary source documents to reconstruct the ERW program’s history, assesses drivers behind decisions throughout […]

Words matter. Phrases such as “expansionist view” and “territorial revisionism” should not be used lightly when discussing the unfortunately painful, understandably sensitive, and fortunately not repeatable history of East Asia. It is a pity that Prof. Dudden did not place her assertions in a broader, more balanced comparative context by at least briefly mentioning the […]

Wonder what Mao would have thought of all this lavishing vast personal wealth on the most decadent of foreign brands…
Devin Friedman, “The Bling Dynasty,” GQ (January 2015).
You probably know that people are getting rich in China. They lag only behind America in sheer number of billionaires. And you probably know that all of that money […]

Yet again, CMSI’s Ryan Martinson demonstrates why his publications are always mandatory reading for anyone trying to understand China’s maritime policies and actions. I really cannot commend his work to you more highly. If you haven’t already done so, go back and read his previous articles published over the past few months. You’ll be glad […]

Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “China’s Public Hospital Governance Reforms are Setting the Stage for Corporatization,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国) 88 (26 January 2015).

With appropriate legal and policy support, corporatization could begin within the next 2-3 years.
Key Points:

China’s public hospital reform experiments thus far have laid a foundation for corporatization that is stronger than […]

Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 23 December 2014), RL33153.
Summary
China is building a modern and regionally powerful Navy with a modest but growing capability for conducting operations beyond China’s near-seas region. The question of how the United States should respond to China’s military modernization effort, including its […]

Defense News Asia Bureau Chief Wendell Minnick has published an 800-page directory on foreign aviation companies doing business in China (commercial and defense). The book includes the names of Chinese agents handling the company account, press releases, chronologies, speeches, and index. Directory of Foreign Aviation Companies in China: Commercial and Defense is available via Amazon.
Wendell […]

Peter Hore; review of Carnes Lord and Andrew S. Erickson, eds., Rebalancing U.S. Forces: Basing and Forward Presence in the Asia-Pacific (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2014); Warships: International Fleet Review (December 2014).
… Its meat and potatoes is the strategic pivot being carried out by the USA, which will see 60 percent of the US Navy’s operational effort […]

Review of Carnes Lord and Andrew S. Erickson, eds., Rebalancing U.S. Forces: Basing and Forward Presence in the Asia-Pacific (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2014); Work Boat World (October 2014): 45.
Our world continues to change very rapidly. The rise of China… led to much re-thinking among America’s defense intelligentsia.
At the forefront of this, as usual, is the Naval […]

Andrew S. Erickson, “Beijing Projects Power through Cooperation, Intimidation,” Nikkei Asian Review, 18 December 2014.
China’s military development offers costs and benefits for its neighbors and the world. To understand why, look at two factors: technology and geography.
     In the contested “near seas” off China’s coast (the Yellow, East China, and South China seas), Beijing is […]

Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “Volkswagen’s China Dealership Expansions Suggest Substantial Upside for Continued Growth in Car Sales—and Gasoline Consumption,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国) 87 (17 December 2014).

China’s passenger car sales volumes have been strong thus far in 2014, with roughly 15% YoY growth between January and November 2014. Gasoline demand has followed suit, […]

A great debate whose time has come. Personally, I think Martinson strikes the right balance, but both experts have made useful contributions to the open source literature on this important yet understudied topic!
China’s consolidating Coast Guard is certainly acting in aggregate to further a larger national strategy of some sort; the question is, precisely how, […]

Gregory Viscusi and Nicole Gaouette, “The World Hot Spots You’ve Never Heard of That Could Ruin 2015,” Bloomberg, 16 December 2014.
The Spratlys. Narva. Fezzan.
These places risk becoming household names in 2015. Can’t locate them on a map? Well, a lot of people couldn’t have found Donetsk in Ukraine or Raqqa in Syria as 2014 got under […]