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Andrew S. Erickson 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.

15 December 2013

Contradictions in China’s Foreign Policy

Douglas H. Paal, “Contradictions in China’s Foreign Policy,” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 13 December 2013.
You may have missed the funeral, but China’s new leadership has quietly buried the admonition of former leader Deng Xiaoping that as China rises in wealth and power it should maintain a low profile (known as taoguang yanghui). In its place, […]

15 December 2013

Chinese Warship Nearly Collided With USS Cowpens

Jon Harper, “Chinese Warship Nearly Collided With USS Cowpens,” Stars and Stripes, 13 December 2013.
WASHINGTON – On Dec. 5, a Chinese warship nearly collided with a U.S. Navy guided missile cruiser, according to U.S. Pacific Fleet.
“While lawfully operating in international waters in the South China Sea, USS Cowpens (CG 63) and a PLA Navy vessel had […]

14 December 2013

U.S.-China Security Perceptions Survey: Findings and Implications

Michael D. Swaine, Rachel Esplin Odell, Luo Yuan, and Liu Xiangdong, U.S.-China Security Perceptions Survey: Findings and Implications (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 12 December 2013).
Click here for a full-text PDF of the report.
Public and elite attitudes in the United States and especially China are exerting a growing influence on the bilateral security relationship. […]

14 December 2013

Chang’e-3 (姮娥) Lander and Yutu “Jade Rabbit” (玉兔) Moon Rover Reach Lunar Surface—China’s 1st Soft-Landing on Extraterrestrial Body

Click here to read the report.
“China Focus: China’s Lunar Probe Soft-Lands on Moon,” Xinhua, 14 December 2013.
BEIJING, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) — China’s lunar probe Chang’e-3, with the country’s first moon rover onboard, successfully landed on the moon on Saturday night, marking the first time that China has sent a spacecraft to soft land on the […]

12 December 2013

China’s Naval Modernization: Implications and Recommendations

Andrew S. Erickson, “China’s Naval Modernization: Implications and Recommendations,” Testimony before the House Armed Services Committee Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee, “U.S. Asia-Pacific Strategic Considerations Related to PLA Naval Forces” hearing, Washington, DC, 11 December 2013.
Click here for complete information on the House Armed Services Committee Seapower and Projection Forces Subcommittee hearing,  “U.S. Asia-Pacific Strategic […]

12 December 2013

Rep. Forbes: Make China Bleed $$$; Budget Deal Stops “Hemorrhaging”

Sydney J. Freedberg, Jr., “Rep. Forbes: Make China Bleed $$$; Budget Deal Stops ‘Hemorrhaging’,” Breaking Defense, 12 December 2013.
… We shouldn’t try to meet China head-on, Naval War College professor Andrew Erickson told [House seapower subcommittee chairman Randy] Forbes’s subcommittee. (See Erickson’s written testimony). Beijing is investing in a wide array of increasingly advanced aircraft, warships, submarines, electronics, and […]

12 December 2013

2013 Annual Report to Congress Released by U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission

Check out the tremendous contributions from testimony by former Princeton-Harvard China and the World Program Fellow Dr. Dawn Murphy and from her Ph.D. dissertation Rising Revisionist? China’s Relations with the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa in the post-Cold War Era (Washington, DC: George Washington University, 2012).
2013 Annual Report to Congress of the U.S.-China Economic and […]

12 December 2013

No Clear Strategy on China, Experts Say

Christopher C. Cavas, “No Clear Strategy on China, Experts Say,” Defense News, 11 December 2013.
No real US strategy exists right now for dealing with China, even as the country challenges the territorial status quo of nearby Asian waters, several experts said Wednesday. …
China expert Andrew Erickson of the Naval War College noted “the US has […]

11 December 2013

Witness Statements, Bios & Archived Webcast Now Available—HASC Subcommittee on Seapower & Projection Forces Hearing: “U.S. Asia-Pacific Strategic Considerations Related to PLA Naval Forces Modernization”

Click here to watch the archived Webcast.
Andrew S. Erickson, “China’s Naval Modernization: Implications and Recommendations”

December 11, 2013 3:30 PM
U.S. Asia-Pacific Strategic Considerations Related to PLA Naval Forces Modernization
House Armed Services Committee
Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces
Rayburn HOB – 2118

Witnesses

Dr. Seth Cropsey
Senior Fellow, The Hudson Institute

Witness Statement [PDF] Added 12/11/2013 at 04:25 PM
Witness Truth in […]

11 December 2013

Today from 3:30-5:30 PM in 2118 RHOB & Webcast Live—House Armed Services Committee Hearing: “U.S. Asia-Pacific Strategic Considerations Related to P.L.A. Naval Forces Modernization”

Click here to watch the live Webcast.
Contact: Robert McAlister (202) 225-2539
 HASC Hearing Schedule December 9-13, 2013
WASHINGTON – House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon released the following schedule featuring (1) hearing for the week of December 9-13.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
U.S. Asia-Pacific Strategic Considerations Related to P.L.A. Naval Forces Modernization

House Committee on Armed Services
Subcommittee on Seapower and […]

09 December 2013

Piracy’s Next Frontier: A Role for China in Gulf of Guinea Security?

Andrew S. Erickson and Austin M. Strange, “Piracy’s Next Frontier: A Role for China in Gulf of Guinea Security?” The National Interest, 10 December 2013.
Nestled in the crook of Africa’s long western coast, the Gulf of Guinea is emerging as the next frontier in the international effort against piracy. It is particularly important to understand […]

09 December 2013

House Armed Services Committee Hearing Wed. 11 December 3:30-5:30 PM, 2118 RHOB: “U.S. Asia-Pacific Strategic Considerations Related to P.L.A. Naval Forces Modernization”

This promises to be a very interesting and timely event.
For Immediate Release: December 5, 2013
Contact: Robert McAlister (202) 225-2539
 HASC Hearing Schedule December 9-13
WASHINGTON – House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon released the following schedule featuring (1) hearing for the week of December 9-13.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
U.S. Asia-Pacific Strategic Considerations Related to P.L.A. Naval Forces Modernization

House […]

08 December 2013

China SignPost™ (洞察中国) #72—“China Natural Gas Shortage Poised to Drive Record LNG Imports”

Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “China Natural Gas Shortage Poised to Drive Record LNG Imports,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国) 72 (9 December 2013).
China SignPost™ 洞察中国–“Clear, high-impact China analysis.”©
China’s significant natural gas shortage will catalyze greater investment in pipelines, storage, and domestic drilling.
China is suffering a serious natural gas supply shortage as cool weather collides […]

30 November 2013

China Bolstering Civil, Defense Space Spending

Amy Svitak and Frank Morring, Jr., “China Bolstering Civil, Defense Space Spending,” Aviation Week & Space Technology, 25 November 2013, 56.
… According to a Euroconsult analysis, “Government Space Markets, World Prospects to 2022,” China’s total space budget grew an average of 14% for the period 2007-12. Over the next five years, it is expected to […]

29 November 2013

China’s Space Program Is Taking Off

Frank Morring, Jr., Bradley Perrett, and Amy Svitak, “China’s Space Program Is Taking Off,” Aviation Week & Space Technology, 25 November 2013, 50.
… by 2020 or a little thereafter, when the International Space Station (ISS) may be on its last legs, Chinese space managers expect to have a Mir-class space station in orbit. There is […]

29 November 2013

China Sends Warplanes to New Air Defense Zone After U.S., Japan, S. Korea Incursions

Simon Denyer and Chico Harlan, “China Sends Warplanes to New Air Defense Zone After U.S., Japan, S. Korea Incursions,” Washington Post, 28 November 2013.
BEIJING — China said Thursday that it had sent warplanes to patrol its newly declared maritime air defense identification zone, as a dispute over an island chain ratcheted up into a dangerous regional […]

28 November 2013

Decoding China’s New “National Security Commission”

Joel Wuthnow investigates China’s new National Security Commission (国家安全委员会) with his typical diligence, context, and insight.
Joel Wuthnow, “Decoding China’s New ‘National Security Commission’,” CNA China Studies (November 2013), CPP-2013-U-006465-Final.
Executive summary
On November 12, 2013, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) announced the creation of a new “National Security Commission.” Although few details were offered, PRC official sources and […]

27 November 2013

What’s Wrong With China’s Air Defence Identification Zone (And What’s Not)

This article merits extremely careful reading. Recent Chinese writings emphasize opposition to double standards and suggest that Beijing is being opposed just because it announced an ADIZ per se. In a recent commentary, for instance, Xinhua writer Wu Liming claims: “China’s announcement to establish an Air Defense Identification Zone in East China Sea has drawn criticism […]

27 November 2013

How to Think About the Chinese Air-Defense News

James Fallows, “How to Think About the Chinese Air-Defense News,” The Atlantic, 26 November 2013.
This is a strange development—China’s establishment over the weekend of an ADIZ, or Air Defense Identification Zone, in an expanded area of the East China Sea, eliciting alarmed reactions from Japan, the United States (which today sent two B-52s through the zone), South […]