Andrew S. Erickson

Robert Farley, “Should America Fear China’s ‘Carrier-Killer’ Missile?” The National Interest, 22 September 2014.
The DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) has generated a tremendous amount of interest over the past five years. If it works, it poses a very serious threat to U.S. Navy (USN) carriers, as well as to the other advanced warships of the USN, of the […]

Andrew S. Erickson, “Rebalancing U.S. Forces: Basing and Forward Presence in the Asia-Pacific,” Eight Bells Book Lecture, Naval War College Museum, Newport, RI, 4 September 2014.
A cornerstone of American sea power and force projection is the maintenance of basing and access agreements that are presently in place in the Pacific region. Often taken for granted, […]

Yao Jianning, ed., “Wu Shengli Flies to US for International Seapower Symposium,” Liberation Army Daily, 16 September 2014.
At the invitation of Jonathan Greenert, chief of the Naval Operations of the U.S., Wu Shengli, member of the China’s Central Military Commission (CMC) and commander of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), left Beijing on September […]

Excellent conference report from Lincoln Hines! It was an honor for me to serve as a discussant at the conference, and I can attest that he has summarized the key points well. For anyone who hasn’t yet had a chance to read them, I highly recommend the other conference reports and books in this series.
Mr. […]

Keep an eye out for more great publications from Ryan Martinson! I can personally attest to his exquisite Chinese language and analysis ability.
This time, Ryan offers timely insights on a vital yet curiously-understudied topic. Check out the table he’s compiled here of the latest additions to China’s rapidly-strengthening and -expanding civil maritime forces!
Ryan Martinson, “Power […]

What is the nature of China’s “tailored coercion”? What sort of a “gray zone” challenge does this “cabbage strategy” pose? How should the U.S. respond? This report offers a wealth of useful ideas.
Particularly valuable excerpts:
“incremental changes could fundamentally alter the balance of power and regional order, and vastly diminish the U.S. ability to undergird an […]

Be sure to view all the accompanying photos and videos. This is precisely the sort of substantive first-hand reporting that makes following BBC productions so worthwhile!
Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, “China’s Island Factory,” BBC News, 9 September 2014.
New islands are being made in the disputed South China Sea by the might of the Chinese state. But a group […]

Nathan Albright; 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); Naval Historical Foundation, 5 September 2014.
For those readers who have an interest in reading the plans of the U.S. Navy in addressing the complicated concerns of logistics, tactical and strategic concerns, and […]

Patrick Cullen, 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); U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings 140 (September 2014): 74.
With this well-crafted edited volume, Lord and Erickson have put together an excellent team to provide us with a valuable and much needed discussion of the […]

This detailed history of China’s leading space sectors draws on and cites demonstrably authoritative Chinese-language sources previously unavailable in English.
Andrew S. Erickson, “China’s Space Development History: A Comparison of the Rocket and Satellite Sectors,” Acta Astronautica 103 (October/November 2014): 142–67.
Click here for complete information on this issue of the journal.

U.S. Naval War College, United States
John King Fairbank Center […]

Harry Kazianis, “A Master Plan to Counter China’s Growing Military Might?”; Review of Robert Haddick, Fire on the Water: China, America and the Future of the Pacific (Naval Institute Press, 2014); War on the Rocks, 1 September 2014.
… There could be no better time than the present for a new book that not only explores issues surrounding China’s […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Emily de La Bruyere, “Going Maverick: Lessons from China’s Buzzing of a U.S. Navy Aircraft,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal,  25 August 2014.
Many have evoked the film “Top Gun” in describing a recent confrontation between a Chinese J-11 fighter and U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon surveillance plane off of Hainan […]

Helene Cooper, “Pentagon Says Chinese Fighter Jet Confronted American Navy Plane,” New York Times, 22 August 2014.
WASHINGTON — A Chinese fighter jet flew within 30 feet of a Navy surveillance and reconnaissance plane this week in international airspace just off the Chinese coast, the Pentagon said Friday.
The encounter, known as an intercept, was “very, very […]

A trenchant, thought-provoking analysis by CNAS Research Associate and rising star in the China/Asia-Pacific studies field Amy Chang on contradictions in U.S. China policy and what to do about them. Whether you agree with Amy or not on the specifics, her argument is reflective of growing concerns in many U.S. and allied quarters…
Amy Chang, “Can America […]

The study that everyone wanted but nobody had produced before!
Kenneth Allen and Morgan Clemens, The Recruitment, Education, and Training of PLA Navy Personnel, Naval War College China Maritime Study 12 (August 2014).
Looking back at the parlous state of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in the early 1980s, Liu Huaqing, its former commander, wrote, “All areas [of the […]

Summary translation: China demands freedom from the United States to collect intelligence in U.S. Exclusive Economic Zones in the name of U.S. principles and domestic laws. China denies the United States reciprocal freedoms in the name of China’s own domestic laws.
Such lack of reciprocity flies in the face of international legal principles and support for an […]

Excellent analysis by a serious observer of Chinese military, doctrinal, and policy developments. Here’s hoping that David Bradley continues to publish his sophisticated analysis for all to read!
Has Washington unwittingly contributed to Beijing’s assessment of a “new situation” in the regional security environment and beyond by: (1) devoting insufficient resources and attention to the Asia-Pacific, (2) not […]

Very important piece by Shannon Tiezzi. It explains clearly how China is trying to have it both ways with regard to conducting maritime intelligence collection activities in another nation’s EEZ. That’s why Emily de La Bruyere and I quote leading international legal scholar Jerome Cohen in our recent article in The National Interest on the […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Emily de La Bruyere, “China’s RIMPAC Maritime-Surveillance Gambit,” The National Interest, 29 July 2014.
Forty-nine ships from 22 countries, including China, are currently participating in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) maritime training exercises off the coast of Hawaii. Submarines and aircraft have joined them. But last Friday, an electronic display map […]