Andrew S. Erickson

As we wind through the Year of the Snake, China under Xi is steaming full speed ahead, particularly at sea. Navigate troubled Indo-Pacific waters by consulting the latest version of Modern Chinese Maritime Forces, released today! This most recent iteration of the Second Edition includes sections for PLA Army (pp. 63–75) and PLA Air Force […]

Andrew S. Erickson and Christopher H. Sharman, “PLAN Chief of Staff VADM Li Hanjun: Fast-Rising Star of Training and Education Extinguished,” CMSI Note 15 (Newport, RI: Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute, 30 June 2025).

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A CACHED PDF COPY.
From CMSI Director Christopher Sharman:
China Navy Watchers: Another senior People’s Liberation Army Navy […]

Ryan D. Martinson, “Exposed Undersea: PLA Navy Officer Reflections on China’s Not-So-Silent Service,” Center for International Maritime Security (CIMSEC), 24 June 2025.

From CMSI Director CAPT Christopher H. Sharman, USN (Ret.):
What do PLAN officers tell themselves about the capabilities of U.S. undersea surveillance systems? What are the acoustic vulnerabilities of PLAN submarines? Moreover, how should the PLAN […]

Thanks to Brian Kerg and CIMSEC for a great opportunity!
Honored that “Chinese Amphibious Warfare” has been named the Samuel B. Griffith Foundation’s 2025 Publication of the Year and selected for the Commandant of the Marine Corps Professional Reading Program’s 2025 Reading List.

Download a free copy here!
I’ve summarized our book’s key findings in The Diplomat. Click […]

Zhao Jiaxu and Huang Chunyu, “Lessons and Thoughts from the Struggle for Command of the Sea in the Red Sea,” CMSI Translation 19 (Newport, RI: Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute, 3 June 2025).

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From CMSI Director CAPT Christopher H. Sharman, USN (Ret.):
China Navy Watchers: China’s Navy is learning […]

Andrew S. Erickson, The People of China’s Navy and Other Maritime Forces: Extended Summary of Conference Findings, China Maritime Report 47 (Newport, RI: Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute, 28 May 2025).

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From CMSI Director Christopher Sharman:
China Maritime Watchers: Want to read the findings from the China Maritime Studies […]

The Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) has just released the Quick Look summary of its 14–15 May 2025 Conference on “The People of China’s Navy and Other Maritime Forces.”
Excerpts selected by CMSI Director CAPT Christopher H. Sharman, USN (Ret.):

Xi Jinping is China’s first great “navalist” statesman. He considers willingness to embrace the […]

Li Muqiang, Yang Fulong, Qu Bin, and Zhai Dengqian, “Combine Wisdom and Join Efforts, Training in a Sea of Mines, ‘Pioneers of Breaking Obstacles’,” CMSI Translation 18 (Newport, RI: Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute, 21 May 2025).
A Minesweeper Unit from the Northern Theater Command Navy Establishes a Joint Teaching and Training Mechanism with an Educational […]

Andrew S. Erickson, “Imposing the Fate of Sisyphus? The PLA as An Instrument of National Power and Force Preparation toward Taiwan,” in Benjamin Frohman and Jeremy Rausch, eds., The PLA in a Complex Security Environment: Preparing for High Winds and Choppy Waters (National Bureau of Asian Research, 15 May 2025), 149–74.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A […]

NEWPORT, R.I. – Panelists discuss senior leadership of the Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) at the U.S. Naval War College’s (NWC) 14th biennial China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) Conference, held onboard Naval Station Newport, May 14-15. Biennial CMSI conferences serve to stimulate focused research and foster dialogue among topic experts resulting in enhanced understanding and […]

China’s State Council Information Office (SCIO) just posted a white paper titled “China’s National Security in the New Era.” The English notification and abstract are below; followed by a very rough English-language translation and the full text in the original Chinese.
Perhaps the most interesting section, Chapter VI elaborates on China’s National Security System (国家安全体系和能力) and […]

John Chen and Joel Wuthnow, Sea Dragons: Special Operations and Chinese Military Strategy, Naval War College China Maritime Study 18 (9 May 2025).

Click here to download a cached PDF copy.
From CMSI Director Christopher Sharman:

This Red Book dives into a topic that is rarely discussed and almost never researched, the PLA’s naval special operations forces’ most […]

Andrew S. Erickson, “China’s New Liaowang-1 Space Support Ship: Defensive and Offensive Capabilities from Sea to Satellites,” 19FortyFive, 8 May 2025.

Big splash! The People’s Republic of China (PRC) just fielded the world’s largest space support ship by far. Designed and built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation at Jiangnan Shipyard on Shanghai’s Changxing Island, Liaowang-1 (IMO 1063607) […]

Andrew S. Erickson, “Tracking China’s ‘Little Blue Men’—A Comprehensive Maritime Militia Compendium,” China Analysis from Original Sources 以第一手资料研究中国, 7 May 2025.

American and Allied knowledge of the PRC’s Third Sea Force has come a long way since my outstanding former Naval War College colleague Professor Conor Kennedy and I began our focused research following his arrival in […]

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 maritime strategy and PLA Navy personnel issues as we analyze the fall of Admiral Miao Hua (苗华) and Vice Admiral Li Pengcheng (李鹏程) and watch for more shoes to […]

Ronald O’Rourke, China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities—Background and Issues for Congress, RL33153 (Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service, 24 April 2025).
Having trouble accessing the website above? Please download a cached copy here!

You can also click here to access the report via the public CRS website.
SUMMARY
China’s military modernization effort, including its naval modernization effort, is the top focus […]

Brilliant historical insights from Naval War College Professor Paul Smith!
On 4 September 1958, President Eisenhower arguably resolved the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis from just outside his special office—on the side porch of Navy Building 10, today the Naval War College Museum. Click here to watch a two-minute newsreel on YouTube.

Dr. Smith’s forthcoming book uniquely documents […]

Don’t miss this pithy distillation of Ryan Martinson’s cutting-edge findings concerning the PLA Navy’s closest equivalent to the U.S. Naval War College—the Naval Command College in Nanjing, where professional military education is doubling down on the fundamentals of naval operations and warfighting regarding scenarios of greatest concern. The Party commands ideological obedience and limitations persist, […]

This event is sponsored and organized by the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies, Harvard University.

Harvard University, CGIS South S020, Belfer Case Study Room
1730 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Wednesday, April 30 @ 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm

Andrew S. Erickson, Professor of Strategy, China Maritime Studies Institute, U.S. Naval War College; Visiting Scholar 2024-25, Fairbank Center for […]