Digital Commons Network^™

How China Might Invade Taiwan, Piers M. Wood, Charles D. Ferguson

Naval War College Review

A determined China could launch an invasion sooner than the five, ten, or twenty years that some have projected, though it would be unlikely to succeed if it made the attempt today. A phased, stepping-stone invasion would force Taiwan to decide whether to absorb casualties fighting in preliminary invasions or to conserve resources for a final stand on the main island.

Review Essay, Bruce Elleman

Naval War College Review

At the end of the Cold War, the Soviet navy was eliminated almost overnight as the world’s second most powerful naval force. Russia’s Pacific fleet is now so poorly supplied and equipped that it rarely leaves port. This unprecedented reversal of fortune has created a maritime vacuum throughout East Asia, leaving a wide range of regional powers, including the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Taiwan, the Republic of Korea, and Japan, hoping to fill that vacuum.

Space Wei Qi—The Launch Of Shenzhou V, Joan Johnson-Freese

Naval War College Review

Whether the United States chooses to return to the moon, go on to Mars, or something in between or beyond, it is not just where that is important, but how. To a large extent, how will involve implicitly or explicitly responding to the first Chinese manned space flight, on 15–16 October 2003. The United States can continue to exclude China from cooperative space efforts, commence a new manned-space-flight race, or initiate an incremental program of space cooperation including the Chinese. The interests of the space program and of the nation would be best served by cooperation.

China’S Closing Window Of Opportunity, Justin Bernier, Stuart Gold

Naval War College Review

American civilian and military leaders must dismiss the fatally flawed theory that time is on China’s side in the struggle over the fate of Taiwan. The real danger of a PRC attack is in this decade, when Taiwan is most vulnerable, not in the next. Closer military ties with Taiwan, more cautious dealings with China, a strengthened U.S. naval and air presence in the western Pacific, and complementary nonmilitary measures are needed.

Maritime Geostrategy And The Development Of The Chinese Navy In The Early Twenty-First Century, Xu Qi, Andrew S. Erickson, Lyle J. Goldstein

Naval War College Review

A Senior Captain in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, writing in 2004 in China’s most prestigious military journal, surveys the now favorable geostrategic environment for accelerated Chinese maritime development, thereby articulating a rationale for a PLA Navy that is prepared to “defend a larger scope.”

China’S Aircraft Carrier Dilemma, Andrew S. Erickson, Andrew R. Wilson

Naval War College Review

What even a modest aircraft carrier can do, in a variety of roles, has impressed itself upon the Chinese. They have avoided buying the wrong platform at the wrong time—conventional large-deck ships may no longer be their “gold standard”—but aircraft carriers of some kind may yet complement their submarine-centered navy.

China’S Maturing Navy, Eric A. Mcvadon

Naval War College Review

A new and much more capable Chinese navy, especially its submarine force, is being acquired and deployed. It is not yet mature, but its rapid and impressive modernization is making it a navy that is arguably the only one that the U.S. Navy must deter or be able to defeat—unless, under other circumstances, it becomes a high-seas partner.

China’S Aircraft Carrier Ambitions, Ian Storey, You Ji

Naval War College Review

For more than a decade there have been persistent reports that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) intends to acquire an aircraft carrier force as part of its ambition to achieve “blue-water” (high seas) naval capability. Some reports suggest that China plans to refit one or more aircraft carriers from the former Soviet Union or other countries. Others claim that China has investigated the possibility of buying a light aircraft carrier from a European shipbuilder. Other reports suggest China has already made the decision to build two or three indig- enous carriers and has even allocated funding for the program.

Thinking About Basing, Robert E. Harkavy

Naval War College Review

Recent U.S. experiences—1990–91 in the Persian Gulf, in Bosnia, Kosovo, and then in Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003)—have highlighted the complexities and uncertainties of basing access in the post–Cold War period. They have involved questions of access to, and overhead transit rights for, a variety of nations: all over Europe, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Tadzhikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Djibouti, and many others. They have also highlighted the crucial importance of the future of American basing access at a time of shifting alli- ances, friendships, and enmities amid wholesale changes in the structure of the international system, and of the movement to …

The U.S. Military’S “Maritime Strategy” And Future Transformation, Wang Baofu

Naval War College Review

No abstract provided.

The New U.S. Maritime Strategy Surfaces, Lu Rude

Naval War College Review

No abstract provided.

Assessing The New U.S. Maritime Strategy—A Window Into Chinese Thinking, Andrew S. Erickson

Naval War College Review

Chinese reactions to the U.S. Navy’s new maritime strategy provide a window into a larger strategic dynamic—not just in East Asia, where China is already developing as a great power, but globally, where it has the potential to play a major role as well. Three unofficial Chinese articles seem particularly useful for assessing those reactions.

The Mosquito Can Be More Dangerous Than The Mortar Round, Arthur M. Smith, Craig Hooper

Naval War College Review

These words, penned in 1943 by the commander in chief of British forces in Burma during World War II, underline the reality that losses to malaria and other preventable diseases among Allied forces operating in the China-Burma- India theater far exceeded the number of casualties inflicted by enemy action.1 Today, as the global war on terrorism evolves, a similar failure to appreciate noncombat environmental threats—including mosquitoes and other disease- carrying insect vectors—will once again degrade combat effectiveness of deployed forces.

No Oil For The Lamps Of China?, Gabriel B. Collins, William S. Murray

Naval War College Review

Chinese naval and strategic planners fear, and their Western counterparts seem to believe, that a maritime blockade could interrupt or significantly impede China’s energy supplies in a limited war. But probably it could not, and thinking it could is dangerous for everyone.

Migration: 2017 The New York Times Asia-Pacific Writing Competition, New York Times

Student Publications

This is a yearly writing competition organised by International New York Times (INYT). This year's topic is "Migration" and SMU's law student Averill Chow Mingni was the winner in the University category. See her essay:

• New homes, better lives by Averill Chow Mingni on page 16-17

Justification By Heaven: A Comparative Analysis Of Political Legitimacy In Confucianism And Mohism, Sung Min Kim

Armstrong Undergraduate Journal of History

About the author:

Sung Min Kim attends UIUC (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) as a double major in History and East Asian Languages and Cultures. His field of interest is the history of early China from the Eastern Zhou to Han Dynasty.

China’S Future Nuclear Submarine Force, Andrew S. Erickson, Lyle J. Goldstein

Naval War College Review

On 26 October 2006, a Chinese Song-class attack submarine reportedly surfaced in close proximity to the USS Kitty Hawk carrier battle group in international waters near Okinawa.1 This was not the fi rst time that Chinese sub- marines have attracted extensive media attention. The advent of the Yuan-class SSK in mid-2004 seems to have had a major impact in transforming the assess- ments of Western naval analysts, and also of the broader community of analysts studying China’s military modernization.

Research & Debate, Wang Wei

Naval War College Review

Weaponry and concepts (that is to say, combat theory, or more specifically, doctrine regarding the practical employment of some specific weapon) have en- dured as themes of warfare throughout the history of mankind. From the perspective of their development, there has always been an interactive relation- ship between weaponry and combat theory. Lack of coordination in the development of these two elements has led to a spiral in which one continually supersedes the other.

China And The United States In The Indian Ocean, James R. Holmes, Toshi Yoshihara

Naval War College Review

The Asian seas today are witnessing an intriguing historical anomaly—the simultaneous rises of two homegrown maritime powers against the backdrop of U.S. dominion over the global commons. The drivers behind this apparent irregularity in the Asian regional order are, of course, China and India. Their aspi- rations for great-power status and, above all, their quests for energy security have compelled both Beijing and New Delhi to redirect their gazes from land to the seas.

Using The Land To Control The Sea?—Chinese Analysts Consider The Antiship Ballistic Missile, Andrew S. Erickson, David D. Yang

Naval War College Review

China’s open-source literature does not establish whether that nation has, or is close to having, tactical ballistic missiles capable of effective attacks on surface ships. It does establish, however, that the Chinese are deeply interested in the idea—a potential “game changer” that would critically influence America’s place in the Pacific for decades to come—and heavily engaged in the issues involved, technically and otherwise.

Gunboats For China’S New “Grand Canals”?—Probing The Intersection Of Beijing’S Naval And Oil Security Policies, Andrew Erickson, Lyle Goldstein

Naval War College Review

China’s seaborne energy imports have become as vital a lifeline as was a waterway known as the “Grand Canal” in the central part of the nation a millennium ago. But the strategic environment is very different today. Scholars of the Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute examine how Chinese analysts perceive their oil-security challenges.

“Rockets’ Red Glare”—Why Does China Oppose Thaad In South Korea, And What Does It Mean For U.S. Policy?, Robert C. Watts Iv

Naval War College Review

China’s purported fears about the introduction of defensive missiles into South Korea are likely insincere or misplaced, leaving concerns about the beneficial effects on U.S. alliances as the probable explanation for its opposition.

A Maritime Oil Blockade Against China—Tactically Tempting But Strategically Flawed, Gabriel Collins

Naval War College Review

The political, economic, and financial aspects of sustaining an oil blockade against China mean that even a militarily successful blockader could find its political, economic, and diplomatic position untenable well before a blockade could exert its full effects.

China In Africa, Todd A. Hofstedt

Naval War College Review

The recent expansion of Chinese activity in Africa has raised several concerns, ranging from control over energy resources to exploitive economic practices and support of rogue or corrupt regimes, perpetuating instability and undermining international pressure for reform. These issues, however, represent only a fraction of China’s broadly based engagement in Africa. In fact, the most egregious examples of China’s behavior commonly cited are unsustainable and even counterproductive to its long-term interests in Africa.

China’S Aircraft Carrier Ambitions, Nan Li, Christopher Weuve

Naval War College Review

China is getting closer to realizing its aircraft carrier ambitions in terms of leadership endorsement, financial affordability, naval strategy, and requisite technologies. What might a Chinese carrier look like, and what would it mean?

Three Disputes And Three Objectives—China And The South China Sea, Peter Dutton

Naval War College Review

The complex disputes of the globally important South China Sea sort themselves into three categories, each with its own parties, rule sets, and politics. Unfortunately, states are pursuing win-lose solutions to all three, when win-win problem solving based on mutuality and commonality of interests is necessary and possible.

From Bottle Rockets To Lightning Bolts—China’S Missile Revolution And Pla Strategy Against U.S. Military Intervention, Vitaliy O. Pradun

Naval War College Review

The United States has long considered that China’s military limitations would restrict it, in case of a conflict over Taiwan, to “access denial” against intervening U.S. forces. But the evidence suggests that China’s emerging strategy and force structure is actually much more ambitious, direct, and dangerous.

Taking Mines Seriously: Mine Warfare In China’S Near Seas, Scott C. Truver

Naval War College Review

China has a large, growing, and modernizing capability for naval mines, one that could greatly hinder U.S. operations in any Taiwan scenario. China’s mine-countermeasures capacity is less robust— but so, unfortunately, is the corresponding offensive mining capacity of the United States.

Race To The North: China’S Arctic Strategy And Its Implications, Shiloh Rainwater

Naval War College Review

The effects of the emerging and prospective economic and strategic opportunities in the Arctic are being felt far beyond the circumpolar states. China, for one, has begun to promulgate the notion that it is a “near-Arctic state” and a stakeholder in the affairs of the High North.

China’S Maritime Disputes In The East And South China Seas, Peter A. Dutton

Naval War College Review

China pursues its security through interior strategies that involve the develop- ment of rings of security around central areas of national interest. The Chi- nese have long felt vulnerable from the sea, and their current maritime strategy seeks to reduce that vulnerability by extending a ring of maritime control around China’s periphery. China pursues this control through a combination of force- structure development and legal assertions.