Andrew S. Erickson

China’s first purpose-built hospital ship, the 10,000-ton Type 920 Daishandao (岱山岛号)-class Peace Ark (和平方舟/AHH 866), has left on a three-month voyage. It will call on ports in Cuba, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Costa Rica as part of “Harmonious Mission -2011” (和谐使命—2011). This is China’s first operational naval mission to the Caribbean, and an interesting new use of its increasing […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Gabriel B. Collins, “China’s S-Shaped Threat,” The Diplomat, 6 September 2011, has been designated a “Must Read” by the Council on Foreign Relations.
Analysts of international relations have focused lately on China’s potential challenges to the international system. But China’s greatest challenges may in fact be internal. The implications will be significant.
China is […]

Prof. Andrew S. Erickson, “Chinese Aerospace Power: Evolving Maritime Roles,” Eight Bells Book Lecture, Naval War College Museum, 8 September 2011.
This talk by Dr. Andrew S. Erickson, China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI), introduced Chinese Aerospace Power: Evolving Maritime Roles, the 5th volume in the Naval Institute Press Series “Studies in Chinese Maritime Development.” This is […]

This talk by Dr. Andrew S. Erickson, China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI), will introduce his new co-edited volume Chinese Aerospace Power: Evolving Maritime Roles. This is the first book to address both the Chinese aerospace challenge and its implications for U.S. naval strategy.
This is the first event in a new season of the 8 Bells […]

Dan Blumenthal with Randall Schriver, Mark Stokes, L.C. Russell Hsiao and Michael Mazza, Asian Alliances in the 21st Century (Arlington, VA: Project 2049 Institute, 2011).
Asia will become the epicenter of geopolitical activity in the 21st century and the budding U.S.-China security rivalry, conditioned by deep economic interdependence, will shape the region’s future. The United States […]

Oriana Skylar Mastro and Mark Stokes, Air Power Trends in Northeast Asia: Implications for Japan and the U.S.-Japan Alliance (Arlington, VA: Project 2049 Institute, 2011).
The shifting balance of aerospace power in Northeast Asia is creating an increasingly uncertain strategic environment for Japan. Japan is warily eyeing China’s growing military might while also vigilantly watching Russia’s […]

Feng, “China and Vietnam,” PLA Blogspot, 21 August 2011.
This is the second part in my series to talk about what I gathered from the recent readings. Since last year, there have been increased amount of noise from ASEAN countries about China’s increased assertiveness in the area. The most vocal of those countries is Vietnam. That […]

Andrew S. Erickson, “From Shanghai to Somalia: China’s Contributions to the Security of Seaborne Commerce in Asia and Beyond,” in 沈丁立, 张贵洪, 主编 [Shen Dingli and Zhang Guihong, eds], 亚洲国际关系的重构 [Restructuring of International Relations in Asia] (Shanghai: 上海人民出版社 [Shanghai People’s Press], 2011), 241-75.
China is contributing increasingly to the security of the global maritime commons as a […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Gabriel B. Collins, “China’s S-Shaped Threat,” The Diplomat, 6 September 2011.
Analysts of international relations have focused lately on China’s potential challenges to the international system. But China’s greatest challenges may in fact be internal. The implications will be significant.
China is assumed by many to be destined to overtake the US as […]

Harry Kazianis, “Review: Chinese Aerospace Power, Evolving Maritime Roles,” 5 Stars, e-International Relations, 6 September 2011.
Chinese Aerospace Power: Evolving Maritime Roles edited by Andrew Erickson and Lyle Goldstein takes on the timely subject of Chinese aerospace technology and its role in the creation of a modern Chinese naval maritime force. Both editors are well respected […]

Feng, “Evolution of PLAAF Doctrine/Training,” Information Dissemination, 31 August 2011.
This is the part 4 in the series of reviewing the content of the recent book that I read. I will be looking at the evolution of PLAAF training and doctrine. This is one area that is hard to write about, because we simply don’t have […]

Feng, “China/Russia Military Cooperation,” Information Dissemination, 28 August 2011.
This is the part 3 in the series of reviewing the content of the recent book that I read. In the past, I have often been harsh toward the recent China/Russia military cooperation. I have frequently stated that the Russians have limited military technology that it can […]

Feng, “The Legacy of Liu Huaqing,” Information Dissemination, 20 August 2011.
Recently, I’ve read a couple of books regarding the development of Chinese air force. … Over the next few weeks, I plan to write several entries on different aspects of PLAAF modernization. The first topic that I decided to make is the legacy of Liu Huaqing, […]

Kenneth Allen and Jana Allen, “Assessing China’s Response to U.S. Reconnaissance Flights,” Jamestown China Brief (2 September 2011).
On June 29, 2011, for the first time in a decade, a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force (PLAAF) J-11 crossed the center line of the Taiwan Strait in an attempted intercept of a U.S. Air Force (USAF) […]

Bradley Perrett, “Pacific Projections: Could—And Would—China Target U.S. Ships with its DF-21D Ballistic Missile?” Aviation Week & Space Technology, 29 August-5 September 2011: 67-68.
China’s DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile system presents one of the world’s most decisive challenges in the field of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), with potentially far-reaching consequences for international affairs. …
The main […]

Barry Watts, The Maturing Revolution in Military Affairs (Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, 3 June 2011).
Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments is pleased to release The Maturing Revolution in Military Affairs. The report, authored by Center Senior Fellow Barry Watts, considers the maturation of the precision-strike regime and five of the most […]

The positions expressed here are the author’s personal views. They do not represent the U.S. Naval War College, Navy, Department of Defense, or Government, and do not necessarily reflect the policies or estimates of these or any other organizations.
Even as the United States and China are more economically interdependent and closely connected than ever before, […]

National Defense Report Editing Committee, Ministry of National Defense, 2011 ROC National Defense Report (Taipei: Ministry of National Defense, August 2011).
(I) Strengthening Integrated Joint Operations Capabilities
p. 71
4. Second Artillery Strike Capabilities
Under the guidance to “balance nuclear and conventional,” the PLA has continued the development of independently targetable intercontinental range ballistic missiles, strengthened strategic nuclear intimidation, […]

“China’s ‘Starter Carrier’,” Defense Tech, 29 August 2011.
Here are some thoughts on the significance of China’s new aircraft carrier that Andrew Erickson, an expert on the PLAN at the U.S. Naval War College, passed on to Defense Tech. While China’s “starter carrier” may not compare to one of the U.S. Navy’s Nimitz class supercarriers, it […]