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 Austin M. Strange, “China and the International Antipiracy Effort,” The Diplomat, 1 November 2013.
China has achieved many firsts under the umbrella of antipiracy. These include its first major contributions to securing sea lines of communication (SLOC), a commendable start. World navies do better at protecting vulnerable maritime regions when they cooperate. […]
Andrew S. Erickson and Austin Strange, “Learning by Doing: PLAN Operational Innovations in the Gulf of Aden,” Jamestown China Brief 13.21 (24 October 2013).
Chinese planners were seriously concerned about logistical and operational challenges associated with anti-piracy missions near Somali waters long before the first People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) warships were deployed in 2008. In particular, […]
Andrew S. Erickson and Austin M. Strange, “Pragmatic Partners, the Unsung Story of U.S.-China Anti-Piracy Coordination,” Guest Blog Post for Elizabeth C. Economy, Asia Unbound, Council on Foreign Relations, 24 October 2013.
This guest post is by Andrew Erickson, an associate professor in the Strategic Research Department at the U.S. Naval War College, and Austin Strange, a […]
Harry Kazianis, “Lifting the Veil on China’s ‘Carrier-Killer’,” The Diplomat, 23 October 2013.
The good folks at the Jamestown Foundation here in Washington D.C. have produced what is clearly the world’s authoritative guide detailing the strategic rationale, development, and ramifications concerning a piece of Chinese military hardware Diplomat readers know all too well: The DF-21D, or the “carrier-killer” as […]
Craig Murray, Andrew Berglund, and Kimberly Hsu, “China’s Naval Modernization and Implications for the United States,” U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission Staff Research Backgrounder, 26 August 2013.
In the late 1980s, China began a modernization program to transform the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy from a coastal force into a technologically-advanced regional navy. China’s acquisition […]
Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 5 September 2013), RL33153.
Summary
The question of how the United States should respond to China’s military modernization effort, including its naval modernization effort, has emerged as a key issue in U.S. defense planning. The question is of particular importance to […]
Andrew S. Erickson, Walter Ladwig, and Justin Mikolay, “Diego Garcia: Anchoring America’s Future Presence in the Indo-Pacific,” Harvard Asia Quarterly 15.2 (Summer 2013): 20–28.
Issue Theme: “Asia’s Security Future—National Strategies and Regional Institutions”
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From the Editor: “Andrew Erickson (US Naval War College), Walter Ladwig (University of Oxford), and Justin Mikolay look at the […]
Robert Farley, “China’s Air Force Comes of Age,” The Diplomat, 17 October 2013.
A recent Andrew Erickson report detailed the constellation of institutional interest and cooperation behind the PLAN’s ongoing deployment to the Gulf of Aden. As Erickson notes, the deployment has required a substantial degree of interagency cooperation, and seems, by and large, to be meeting the needs […]
Andrew S. Erickson and Austin M. Strange, “The Relevant Organs: Institutional Factors behind China’s Gulf of Aden Deployment,” Jamestown Foundation China Brief 13.20 (10 October 2013).
Numerous institutional factors have driven and incentivized China’s participation in anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. Central to executing China’s first instance of protracted Far Seas naval operations has been […]
Andrew S. Erickson, “Risks for U.S. in Asia with Shutdown Soap Opera,” China Real Time Report (中国实时报), Wall Street Journal, 1 October 2013.
As a dangerous game of budget roulette unfolds in the U.S., it behooves all concerned Americans and their representatives to remember that the world continues its rapid evolution and will not wait for Washington to […]
As a dangerous game of budget roulette unfolds, it behooves all concerned Americans and their representatives to remember that the world continues its rapid evolution and will not wait for Washington to get its act together. With respect to the most dynamic and important region of the globe, the insights of Singapore’s founding father Lee […]
Andrew S. Erickson and Austin M. Strange, “Sunk Costs: China and the Pirates,” The Diplomat, 26 September 2013.
Maritime piracy is one of many non-traditional security challenges that confront China and other states in the 21st century. After flourishing for over two decades, why has piracy elicited a greater response from China than have other security […]
Andrew S. Erickson and Austin M. Strange, “Spring Training for the Big Leagues,” Guest Blog Post for Elizabeth C. Economy, Asia Unbound, Council on Foreign Relations, 9 September 2013.
I am delighted to introduce the first of a four-part blog series that will be running through December on the PLA Navy by Andrew Erickson, an associate […]
Robert Beckhusen, “China’s ‘Carrier-Killer’ Was Born in the Balkans: The DF-21D is China’s Answer to America’s Carriers, With an Unusual Origin in the Kosovo War,” War is Boring, 9 September 2013.
… That’s the history according to a new book from Andrew Erickson, a specialist on the Chinese military at the U.S. Naval War College. The […]
Ronald O’Rourke, Maritime Territorial and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Disputes Involving China: Issues for Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 9 August 2013), R42784.
Summary
This report presents policy and oversight issues for Congress arising from (1) maritime territorial disputes involving China in the South China Sea (SCS) and East China Sea (ECS) and (2) an additional dispute […]
Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 8 August 2013), RL33153.
Summary
The question of how the United States should respond to China’s military modernization effort, including its naval modernization effort, has emerged as a key issue in U.S. defense planning. The question is of particular importance to […]
Andrew S. Erickson and Gabe Collins, “China Carrier Demo Module Highlights Surging Navy,” The National Interest, 6 August 2013.
Shanghai’s Changxing Island Shipyard, already home to both conventional-submarine and civil production, now appears to be preparing to construct China’s first indigenous aircraft carrier. Internet and satellite photos have emerged of a hull module whose limited dimensions suggest that it represents a […]
Robert Farley, “The Influence of Airpower Upon Asian History,” The Diplomat, 31 July 2013.
A recent University Press of Kentucky edited volume, The Influence of Airpower Upon History, attempts to evaluate to impact of airpower since the beginning of manned, powered flight. The book largely avoids theorizing about airpower and instead examines how statesmen have used airpower as a […]
On 8 May 2013, in reviewing the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)’s annual report on Chinese military developments, I noted that “China itself needs to know how its military progress is being perceived, even as it remains free to publish whatever reports of its own it might wish.”
Now China has indeed done so, through the […]
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
