Andrew S. Erickson

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying’s Regular Press Conference on May 12, 2014, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China:
Q: “China says there is no dispute over the Xisha Islands, but criticizes Japan for saying there is no dispute over the Diaoyu Islands. Isn’t there a contradiction?”
FMPRC Spokesperson Hua: “These two claims are […]

Behold the incredible expanding Johnson South Reef, aka Mabini Reef, aka Chigua Reef (赤瓜礁)… Major Chinese reclamation of this disputed feature is creating not just facts on the ground, but facts of ground. Literally. While telling rival claimants to pound sand, Beijing pours sand.
In addition to analysis of the specific significance of this Chinese pumping and dumping of sand […]

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).

Kindle edition now available!
China Ocean Press (www.oceanpress.com.cn) has purchased the simplified Chinese language rights and will publish an authorized Chinese-language edition.

Coauthor of:

Carnes Lord and Andrew S. Erickson, “Introduction,” 1-13.
Andrew S. Erickson and Justin D. Mikolay, […]

“PLA’s ‘Long Sword’ Missiles Deadly to US, Japan, Taiwan: Report,” Want China Times, 14 May 2014.
… The May 12 article, jointly written by military experts Dennis Gormley from the University of Pittsburgh, Andrew S Erickson from the Naval War College in Newport and Jingdong Yuan from the University of Sydney, claims that China’s cruise missile […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Austin M. Strange, “China’s Anti-Piracy Mission in the Gulf of Aden: Implications for Anti-Piracy in the South China Sea,” in Wu Shicun and Zou Keyuan, eds., Non-Traditional Security Issues and the South China Sea: Shaping a New Framework for Cooperation (London: Ashgate, 2014), 169–204.
PART 1          PART 2     […]

Dennis M. Gormley, Andrew S. Erickson, and Jingdong Yuan, A Low-Visibility Force Multiplier: Assessing China’s Cruise Missile Ambitions (Washington, D.C.: National Defense University Press, 2014).
China’s military modernization includes ambitious and vigorous efforts to develop effective antiaccess/area-denial (A2/AD) capabilities to deter intervention by outside powers. Highly accurate and lethal antiship cruise missiles (ASCMs) and land-attack cruise […]

Dennis Gormley, Andrew S. Erickson, and Jingdong Yuan, “China’s Cruise Missiles: Flying Fast Under the Public’s Radar,” The National Interest (12 May 2014).
The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) numerous, increasingly advanced cruise missiles have attracted far less attention than its ballistic missiles—yet their impact on regional security, deterrence, and potential military operations may be similar […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Adam P. Liff, “The Budget This Time: Taking the Measure of China’s Defense Spending,” ASAN Forum 2.2 (March-April 2014).
1Early last month, China announced its projected 2014 defense budget of 808 billion yuan (roughly USD 132 billion), a 12.2 percent increase over the previous year. This continues the double-digit spending increases in […]

Carnes Lord and Andrew S. Erickson, “Bases for America’s Asia-Pacific Rebalance (Part 2 of 2),” The Diplomat, 6 May 2014.
Part two of a two part series evaluating the evolving network of US bases in the Asia-Pacific.
The second part of a two-part series that evaluates the United States’ evolving network of bases in the Asia-Pacific and which […]

Peter A. Dutton, “China’s Maritime Disputes in the East and South China Seas,” Testimony before a Hearing of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, 14 January 2014; published in Naval War College Review 67.3 (Summer 2014): 7-18.
Text differs in minor ways from that published online by the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Other interesting articles from the Summer […]

Carnes Lord and Andrew S. Erickson, “Bases for America’s Asia-Pacific Rebalance (Part 1 of 2),” The Diplomat, 2 May 2014.
Part one of a two-part series evaluating the evolving network of US bases in the Asia-Pacific.
The first part of a two-part series that evaluates the United States’ evolving network of bases in the Asia-Pacific and the […]

Like the previous volumes in the National Bureau of Asian Research-Army War College PLA series, this one is worth a close read!
Roy Kamphausen, David Lai, and Travis Tanner, eds., Assessing the People’s Liberation Army in the Hu Jintao Era (Carlisle, PA: Army War College, 2014).
The 2012 PLA (People’s Liberation Army) conference took place at a time when […]

Solid-though-predictable content overall, but a few of the most interesting nuggets excerpted below. Great use of the term “Indo-Asia-Pacific”! This goes well with Admiral Locklear’s description of PACOM’s Area of Responsibility as ranging “from Hollywood to Bollywood.” It’s not as if we need too many more acronyms in the government-security studies lexicon, but I think […]

Henry Sanderson, “China Army Targets Students for Officers to Match Weapons,” Bloomberg News, 24 April 2014.
China’s military has used annual budget increases in excess of 10 percent to buy precision-guided weapons, fighter jets and an aircraft carrier. Now it’s seeking to upgrade its recruits to operate them.
For Wu, a 20-year-old journalism student at a university […]

Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 10 April 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 […]

Great music video compilation and commentary on China’s emerging deck aviation efforts from my Global Junior Scholars’ Forum on Chinese International Relations (GCIR) colleague Haotian Qi.
***Warning: watching these clips may get some unforgettable images and songs stuck in your head.***
Posted with full credit and permission:

April 23rd is the 65th anniversary of the PLA Navy. AVIC (Aviation […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Austin M. Strange, “Parallel Progress, Positive Potential: Sino-American Cooperation to Further Sea Lane Security in the Gulf of Aden,” China International Strategy Review 2013 (2013): 479–501.
Click here to read the online version.

Anti-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Aden represent a successful example of international cooperation to secure sea lines of communication (SLOC), which involves […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Michael S. Chase, “China Goes Ballistic,” The National Interest 131 (May-June 2014): 58-64.
CHINA IS INCREASINGLY A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH, not only economically but also militarily. Its aggressive stance toward some of its neighbors, along with Asia’s growing economic importance and the need to assure U.S. allies that Washington will increase […]

This cogent article by two experienced experts is a must read! It should help inform U.S. Asia-Pacific policy moving forward, and could help inspire the formal Asia-Pacific Strategy that Washington so badly needs. For key policy recommendations, consider especially the following paragraph:
“In Asia, economics and security are inextricably linked, and the United States will not […]