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, “China’s Military Power: The Capability Forest Beyond Corruption Trees,” 19FortyFive, 20 December 2024.
This week, the Department of Defense released its twenty-fourth annual China Military Power Report (CMPR). Here are the most important revelations from its 182 pages that informed professionals need to know.
China’s Military Might, Explained
China’s armed forces are massive, well-funded, and […]
Just out in War on the Rocks—My take on the Pentagon’s 2024 China Military Power Report!
I offer both TL;DR for the 182-page document and a hard-hitting conclusion.
The bottom line: If Xi and the PLA were in the disarray some imagine, there’s no way China’s military could be developing, deploying, and exercising the way it clearly […]
Honored to have CMSI’s new book featured by Phelim Kine in Politico’s China Watcher!
“One Book, Three Questions”
The Book: Chinese Amphibious Warfare: Prospects for a Cross-Strait Invasion (a compilation of expert analyses of how a Chinese invasion of Taiwan might unfold)
The Editors: Andrew Erickson is a professor of strategy at the Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute; […]
The Department of Defense just released the 2024 China Military Power Report (CMPR)!
Access here the Full Text (cached copy) & Fact Sheet (cached copy).
Rollout at CSIS, 18 December 2024.
Watch rollout webcast on YouTube.
KEY REVELATIONS—MY TAKE:
By CMPR’s suspense date of “early 2024,” China already had over 600 operational nuclear warheads.
All of China’s roughly 400 ICBMs can […]
Now that the Department of Defense (DoD) has just released the 2024 China Military Power Report (CMPR)… you can access the Full Text & accompanying documents below. Since I couldn’t find a single-source location on the Internet, and the Pentagon has deactivated some of the previous links, I decided to make my own. Now you can […]
Andrew S. Erickson, “Chinese Amphibious Warfare: Taiwan Targeted, Scenarios Swirling,” The Diplomat, 14 December 2024.
Part two of a two-part series detailing China’s amphibious warfare and the implications for Taiwan.
As China deploys the most warships around Taiwan in its largest maritime operation in three decades, scrutiny of the potential military operations Xi Jinping envisions is long […]
Andrew S. Erickson, “China’s Amphibious Warfare: History, Doctrine, and Forces,” The Diplomat, 14 December 2024.
Part one of a two-part series detailing China’s amphibious warfare and the implications for Taiwan.
Republished in RealClearDefense, 16 December 2024.
As China surrounds Taiwan with warships, it’s time to consider what military operations Xi Jinping may be preparing for. This first part […]
As we follow Admiral Miao Hua (苗华)’s fall and watch for more shoes to drop, it’s useful to reflect on Chinese open source methodology more broadly. With the PRC continually tightening up under Xi, the discipline faces rising challenges. Surveying the state of affairs and reviewing past practices from earlier years of PRC isolation offers […]
Read the latest and greatest from my brilliant my Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) colleague Prof. Ryan Martinson! Review his unique insights on PLA Navy personnel issues as we analyze Admiral Miao Hua (苗华)’s fall and watch for more shoes to drop…
For analysis of Chinese maritime strategy and policy, force development and deployment, […]
Tiffany Tat, Shadow Force: A Look Inside the PLA Navy Reserve, China Maritime Report 43 (Newport, RI: Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute, December 2024).
From CMSI Director Christopher Sharman:
The PLA Navy Reserve is an important and understudied element of PRC maritime power. The PLAN Reserve appears to be transitioning from a substandard backup force […]
Andrew S. Erickson and Christopher H. Sharman, “Admiral Miao Hua’s Fall: Further Navy Fallout?” CMSI Note 11 (Newport, RI: Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute, 28 November 2024).
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A CACHED PDF COPY.
From CMSI Director Christopher Sharman:
Happy Thanksgiving from the China Maritime Studies Institute! We have much to be thankful for.
China’s Navy, […]
Gao Hongwei, Shen Hongquan, and Zhang Tong, “Transformation, How Significant is the Role of an Airfield Station?” CMSI Translation 10 (Newport, RI: Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute, 25 November 2024).
Transformation, How Significant is the Role of an Airfield Station?1
——News Investigation of a Certain Southern Theater Command Navy Aviation Airfield Station
Improving Core Support Capabilities […]
Apply now to become the next Director, Russia Maritime Studies Institute (RMSI) at the Naval War College (NWC) in Newport, Rhode Island—the Navy’s “Home of Thought”! The next professional in this intellectually pivotal position will provide thought leadership and management for a dynamic team of top-caliber professionals all serving the Navy and Nation—in ways that matter greatly. Akin to […]
New in New Haven! After twenty-three years of superlative leadership, scholarship, teaching, and other academic and policy contributions at the U.S. Naval War College, Dr. Peter Alan Dutton, J.D., has joined Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center as a Senior Research Scholar in Law and a Senior Fellow. His updated bio is appended immediately […]
Andrew S. Erickson, Conor M. Kennedy, and Ryan D. Martinson, eds., Chinese Amphibious Warfare: Prospects for a Cross-Strait Invasion (Newport, RI: Naval War College Press, 7 November 2024).
Coauthor of:
Andrew S. Erickson, Conor M. Kennedy, and Ryan D. Martinson, “Introduction: Taking Taiwan by Force? Chinese Amphibious Warfare in the New Era,” 1–12.
Andrew S. Erickson and Gabriel […]
Tian Ying, “Mine Countermeasure Operations in a Cross-Strait Island Landing Campaign,” CMSI Translation 9 (Newport, RI: Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute, 5 November 2024).
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A CACHED COPY.
From CMSI Director CAPT Christopher H. Sharman, USN (Ret.):
What do PRC authors think about Taiwan’s Mine Warfare capabilities? What can the PLAN do to address […]
China-North Korea Dynamics: Is Their Bond Eroding as North Korea Draws Closer to Russia?
November 5, 2024 | 12:15 pm – 1:15 pm
Location: S050, Thomas Chan-Soo Kang Room, CGIS South, 1730 Cambridge St., Cambridge, MA
Please click here to register for the event.
Sponsors:
Harvard University Asia Center
Korea Institute, Harvard University
Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University
Speaker: Seong-Hyon Lee, Associate, […]
Cutting-edge cutters! Revealing commentary on the PRC’s fast-growing “Second Navy” by Professor Martinson. Bonus: Scroll down for a curated “Bookshelf” compilation of his world-class work! I guarantee you’ll find something you *didn’t yet know* you needed to know…
Ryan Martinson, “The Voyage of the Meishan and Xiushan: China’s Template for a Blue-Water Coast Guard,” War on […]
Nuclear Challenges: The Growing Capabilities of Strategic Competitors and Regional Rivals (Washington, DC: Defense Intelligence Agency, 23 October 2024).
Click here to download a cached PDF.
CHINA-FOCUSED CONTENT:
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China
China is undergoing the most rapid expansion and ambitious modernization of its nuclear forces in history—almost certainly driven by an aim for enduring strategic competition with the U.S. and […]
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
