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.
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 […]
Andrew S. Erickson, “China’s Space Development History: A Comparison of the Rocket and Satellite Sectors,” Acta Astronautica (26 June 2014).
Copyright © 2014 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Highlights
• China’s first space achievements were in military/civilian rockets and satellites.
• Nuclear power status and deterrence required missiles to credibly deliver warheads.
• Satellites were also prioritized for strategic reasons and lack of […]
Andrew S. Erickson and Emily de La Bruyere, “Crashing Its Own Party: China’s Unusual Decision to Spy on Joint Naval Exercises,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal, 19 July 2014.
A party crasher from China’s navy is enjoying an intelligence buffet at the world’s largest maritime gathering – and the feasting will make it hard […]
At the world’s foremost maritime cooperation wedding, a wedding crasher from China’s navy is enjoying an intelligence buffet…
Sam LaGrone, “China Sends Uninvited Spy Ship to RIMPAC,” USNI News, 18 July 2014.
China slipped an uninvited guest into the world’s largest naval exercise.
The U.S. invited four ships from China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) to the Rim […]
Mark Thompson, “In China’s Sights: A New Missile Threatens the U.S. Navy’s Biggest Warships—And Stability in the Pacific,” Time, 28 July 2014, 33-36.
There are few things as awesome as a U.S. aircraft carrier—100,000 tons of nuclear-powered steel towering 20 stories above the waterline and crammed with nearly 70 warplanes ready to do its nation’s bidding. […]
Andrew S. Erickson and Michael S. Chase, “China’s Strategic Rocket Force: Upgrading Hardware and Software (Part 2 of 2),” Jamestown China Brief 14.14 (17 July 2014).
Part One of this article covered the modernization of the People’s Liberation Army Second Artillery Force’s (PLASAF) conventional arsenal and the “conventionalization of deterrence”—the creation of doctrines that rely on […]
U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue Outcomes of the Strategic Track
Media Note, Office of the Spokesperson, Washington, DC, July 14, 2014
At the Sixth Round of the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue (S&ED) July 9-10, 2014, in Beijing, State Councilor Yang Jiechi, special representative of President Xi Jinping, and Secretary of State John Kerry, special representative of President Barack Obama, […]
Andrew S. Erickson and Austin M. Strange, “Pandora’s Sandbox: China’s Island-Building Strategy in the South China Sea,” Foreign Affairs, 13 July 2014.
Ongoing international disputes over territory in the South China Sea have led many to invoke an old adage: “When the facts are on your side, pound the facts. When the law is on your side, pound […]
“Chinese Fleet Participating in RIMPAC Drill Leaves for Exercise Area,” Xinhua, 11 July 2014.
Photo taken on July 9, 2014 shows Chinese navy’s missile frigate Yueyang leaves Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, the United States. The Chinese fleet participating in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) multinational naval exercises left Pearl Harbor for the exercise area on […]
Philippa Brant, “China’s Foreign Aid White Paper: Quick Overview,” The Lowy Interpreter, 10 July 2014.
Today, the Chinese Government released its much-awaited second White Paper on Foreign Aid. It’s been in the pipeline for a while, as I’ve noted a number of times, and follows the first white paper published in April 2011.
So what does it say?
First, it is an […]
What Wayne Hughes calls “war at sea,” I term “deterrence by denial.” The concepts are quite similar in many respects. The unifying theme is that the United States—together with allies and partners—remains determined and able to defend the global system and uphold peace and stability, including in the vital portion within the Yellow, East China, […]
Worth a long Saturday of thorough reading and reflection! The hallmark RAND quality and clarity, focused on a topic that will be with us for decades, particularly as Africa is projected to become the last, largest locus of global population growth in an otherwise largely graying planet.
Balanced and nuanced–not yet another polemic either ignoring or […]
Chinese Undersea Warfare: Development, Capabilities, Trends
Maritime Gray Zone Operations: Challenges and Countermeasures in the Indo-Pacific
Oxford Bibliography: “The People’s Liberation Army (PLA)”
China’s Climate Cooperation Smokescreen: A Roadmap for Seeing Through the Trap and Countering with Competition
Large-Scale Amphibious Warfare in Chinese Military Strategy
Rebalancing U.S. Forces: Basing and Forward Presence in the Asia-Pacific
China’s Near Seas Combat Capabilities
Chinese Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile (ASBM) Development: Drivers, Trajectories and Strategic Implications
Asia’s Rising Energy and Resource Nationalism: Implications for the United States, China, and the Asia-Pacific Region
Chinese Aerospace Power: Evolving Maritime Roles
China’s S-Curve Trajectory: Structural Factors Will Likely Slow the Growth of China’s Economy and Comprehensive National Power
China, the United States, and 21st-Century Sea Power: Defining a Maritime Security Partnership
China Goes to Sea: Maritime Transformation in Comparative Historical Perspective
China’s Energy Strategy: The Impact on Bejing’s Maritime Policies
China’s Future Nuclear Submarine Force
Chinese Mine Warfare: A PLA Navy 'Assassin’s Mace' Capability
China’s Nuclear Force Modernization
