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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.

16 April 2012

World’s 1st Single-Ship Circumnavigation by Chinese Navy Training Vessel Commences

On 16 April 2012, Zheng He left Dalian on the first single-ship global circumnavigation by a Chinese training vessel. This latest “first” for China’s Navy is part of a larger pattern in which it has projected power increasingly beyond the “Near Seas” (Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and South China Sea) in the form of well-publicized peacetime […]

12 April 2012

“U.S. ‘Pivot’ to the Pacific: U.S./China Relations” panel sponsored by Harvard Extension International Relations Club and The Diplomat, Harvard University, Friday 13 April 2012, 7-9 PM.

“AMERICA’S PIVOT TO THE PACIFIC”–U.S.-CHINA RELATIONS IN 2012
Harvard University Science Center, Hall C
One Oxford St., Cambridge, MA, 02238
(617) 495-2779
(One block north of the Harvard Square T stop).
With the United States winding down wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, President Barack Obama has indicated his administration’s intention to refocus the country’s diplomatic and military efforts on the […]

12 April 2012

Alexandre Sheldon-Duplaix Reviews Chinese Aerospace Power in Marine Technology

Alexandre Sheldon-Duplaix; review of Andrew S. Erickson and Lyle J. Goldstein, eds., Chinese Aerospace Power: Evolving Maritime Roles (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2011); in Marine Technology (April 2012): 86-87.
This book presents 27 papers from the fourth annual conference on China’s naval developments organized by the United States Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute […]

05 April 2012

Indigenous Weapons Development in China’s Military Modernization

Amy Chang, primary author; John Dotson, editor and contributing author; Indigenous Weapons Development in China’s Military Modernization, U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission Staff Research Report (Washington, DC: USCC, 5 April 2012).
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission was created by Congress to report on the national security implications of the bilateral trade and economic […]

02 April 2012

China’s Navy on the Horizon

Capt. Carl Otis Schuster, U.S. Navy (Ret.), “China’s Navy on the Horizon,” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, 138.4 (April 2012).
China’s official acknowledgment of its first aircraft carrier’s sea trials triggered ongoing speculation in the media about its significance. Some reports assert that the ship is named Shi Lang, after the Manchu admiral who conquered Taiwan, but […]

01 April 2012

China’s Navigation in Space: What New Approaches will China’s Space Tracking Take?

Andrew S. Erickson and Amy Chang, “China’s Navigation in Space: What New Approaches will China’s Space Tracking Take?” U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, 138.4 (April 2012): 42-47.
The People’s Republic of China’s “Long View” space-tracking and telemetry system enhances space situational awareness and operations while offering military potential. Yet this sea-based approach suffers from inherent dependencies and […]

29 March 2012

Latest Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report Just Released—Ronald O’Rourke, “China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress”

Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 23 March 2012), 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 […]

28 March 2012

China SignPost™ (洞察中国) #57–“Tilling Foreign Soil: New Farmland Ownership Laws Force Chinese Agriculture Investors to Shift Strategies in Argentina and Brazil”

Gabriel B. Collins and Andrew S. Erickson, “Tilling Foreign Soil: New Farmland Ownership Laws Force Chinese Agriculture Investors to Shift Strategies in Argentina and Brazil,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国) 57 (28 March 2012).
China SignPost™ 洞察中国–“Clear, high-impact China analysis.”©
Chinese consumers’ growing appetite for meat is driving increased grain imports, which is great news for corn and soybean growers in Argentina and […]

28 March 2012

Troubled Waters: the Implications of China’s First Aircraft Carrier

Ashley Townshend and Shashank Joshi, “Troubled Waters: the Implications of China’s First Aircraft Carrier,” Commentary, Royal United Services Institute, 16 August 2011.
Far from transforming Asia’s naval balance, the launch of China’s first aircraft carrier will only begin to expose China to the rigours of modern naval warfare. The region should respond to the strategic ripples […]

28 March 2012

China’s Anti Access Future is Here

John Reed, “China’s Anti Access Future is Here,” Defense Tech, 27 March 2012.
China may already be able to hold U.S. forces in the far western Pacific Ocean at [risk], argues DT’s go to China expert and Naval War College professor Andrew Erickson in one of his latest analysis pieces.
While China can’t yet project serious military […]

23 March 2012

The People’s Liberation Army’s Selective Learning: Lessons of the Iran-Iraq ‘War of the Cities’ Missile Duels and Uses of Missiles in Other Conflicts

Christopher Twomey, “The People’s Liberation Army’s Selective Learning: Lessons of the Iran-Iraq ‘War of the Cities’ Missile Duels and Uses of Missiles in Other Conflicts,” in Andrew Scobell, David Lai, and Roy Kamphausen, eds., Chinese Lessons From Other Peoples’ Wars (Carlisle, PA: Army War College Strategic Studies Institute and National Bureau of Asian Research, 2011), […]

23 March 2012

Sinica Rules the Waves? The People’s Liberation Army Navy’s Power Projection and Anti-Access/Area Denial Lessons from the Falklands/Malvinas Conflict

Christopher D. Yung, “Sinica Rules the Waves? The People’s Liberation Army Navy’s Power Projection and Anti-Access/Area Denial Lessons from the Falklands/Malvinas Conflict,” in Andrew Scobell, David Lai, and Roy Kamphausen, eds., Chinese Lessons From Other Peoples’ Wars (Carlisle, PA: Army War College Strategic Studies Institute and National Bureau of Asian Research, 2011), 75–114.
Introduction, p. 22: […]

23 March 2012

Asia Connect Reprints China SignPost™ (洞察中国) #45 “Tango for Trade, Samba for Sales: Strategic Implications of China’s Growing Investment and Commercial Ties in Latin America”

Gabe Collins and Andrew Erickson, “Tango for Trade, Samba for Sales: Strategic Implications of China’s Growing Investment and Commercial Ties in Latin America,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国), No. 45 (19 August 2011); reprinted in Asia Connect 1 (Spring 2012): 70-76.
Asia Connect Magazine is issued quarterly with primary objective to stimulate global business by bringing quality, innovation and influence […]

21 March 2012

Robert Farley and Andrew Erickson Discuss “Chinese Aerospace Power” on bloggingheads.tv

Andrew S. Erickson, “Chinese Aerospace Power,” interview with Robert Farley, bloggingheads.tv, 20 March 2012.
On Foreign Entanglements, Rob speaks with Andrew Erickson, editor of the new book Chinese Aerospace Power.  Andrew and Rob discuss the long road to development of China’s new aircraft carrier, including the choices that the carrier represents and what it might portend […]

21 March 2012

China Quarterly Reviews “China, the United States, and 21st Century Sea Power: Defining a Maritime Security Partnership” (CMSI Vol. 4)

Harlan W. Jencks, review of  Andrew S. Erickson, Lyle J. Goldstein, and Nan Li, eds., China, the United States, and 21st Century Sea Power: Defining a Maritime Security Partnership (Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2010); in The China Quarterly, 208 (December 2011): 1034–36.
“It is unusual for a book on military affairs to be suffused with optimism, […]

14 March 2012

China SignPost™ (洞察中国) #56–China’s Economic Environment: Implications for Military Development

Andrew S. Erickson and Gabriel B. Collins, “China’s Economic Environment: Implications for Military Development,” China SignPost™ (洞察中国) 56 (14 March 2012).
China SignPost™ 洞察中国–“Clear, high-impact China analysis.”©
Strategic Horizon 1B: The U.S.-China relationship will be central to international relations in the twenty-first century, as the two great Asia-Pacific powers compete, coexist, and cooperate across the full spectrum of national capabilities. While […]

14 March 2012

Sunday Book Review: Chinese Aerospace Power

Robert Farley, “Sunday Book Review: Chinese Aerospace Power,” Information Dissemination, 11 March 2012. 
Chinese Aerospace Power is a collection of essays generated at a December 2008 colloquium organized by the Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute. The collection is held together by a common focus on maritime oriented Chinese aerospace military capabilities. Edited by Andrew […]

13 March 2012

The European Union and the Modernisation of the People’s Liberation Army Navy: The Limits of Europe’s Strategic Irrelevance

Mathieu Duchâtel and Alexandre Sheldon-Duplaix, “The European Union and the Modernisation of the People’s Liberation Army Navy: The Limits of Europe’s Strategic Irrelevance,” China Perspective 4 (2011): 31-41.
This superb article on a vital but under-researched topic is well worth reading. One of its recommendations should receive particular attention in Washington: it’s time for the U.S. […]

13 March 2012

Big Sticks: China’s and America’s Global Strike Weapons

Steve Weintz, “Big Sticks: China’s and America’s Global Strike Weapons,” War is Boring, 6 March 2012.
…Today the … United States and China are developing special new conventional missiles, both intermediate- and long-range.
Both Chinese and American approaches change the flight path of the missiles from a purely ballistic trajectory to one where ballistic flight quickly gives […]