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China Maritime Report No. 47: The People Of China's Navy And Other Maritime Forces: Extended Summary Of Conference Findings, Andrew S. Erickson

CMSI China Maritime Reports

Main Findings

• Xi Jinping has played a direct and active role in China’s naval buildup. He is China’s first great navalist statesman, the world’s greatest navalist leader today, and among the world’s greatest navalist statesmen in modern history.
• Notwithstanding major advances in ships, submarines, aircraft, and other hardware, Chinese military leaders believe that the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) continues to lag behind in human factors.
• Since Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, the PLAN has dismissed (or is rumored to have dismissed) eleven flag officers. Beyond combating outright dysfunction, these removals are intended to prevent potential disloyalty and …

"The People Of China's Navy & Other Maritime Forces" Conference Quick Look, China Maritime Studies Institute

CMSI Findings

Quick Look Report for China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) Conference “The People of China's Navy and Other Maritime Forces”

The China Maritime Studies Institute held its biennial unclassified academic conference on 14–15 May 2025 to address human factors in the People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s military maritime forces. Roughly 150 external and 200 Naval War College students and faculty attended the event. Panel topics included (1) senior leadership, (2) the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) headquarters, (3) PLAN warfare communities, (4) PLAN talent recruitment, development, and retention, (5) the personnel of China’s other sea forces, and (6) implications for the …

Cmsi Translations #18: Combine Wisdom And Join Efforts, Training In A Sea Of Mines, "Pioneers Of Breaking Obstacles", Li Muqiang, Yang Fulong, Qu Bin, Zhai Dengqian

CMSI Translations

The sky is high, the lake is vast, and ghosts are lurking.

One day in early winter, in the riverside city of Wuhan, a speedboat zooms across the Great Mulan Lake. Its stern engine propellers spin, stirring up white waves... A realistic comprehensive exercise is in full swing, employing mine countermeasures combat divers. A mine countermeasures diver from a minesweeper unit (dadui) of the Northern Theater Command Navy, headquartered several thousand miles away, arrived at the training camp at the Naval University of Engineering (NUE). The divers collaborated closely with the university's mine countermeasures teaching and research section …

Breaking The Ice: China And Lawfare In The Arctic, Sophia Toner

Honors Theses

This thesis examines China's engagement with international legal frameworks in the Arctic through a lawfare lens, using a structured analytical framework to assess whether Chinese activities constitute lawfare. Focusing on two key cases—China's involvement in submarine cable infrastructure and its navigation of the Northern Sea Route—the research applies Andrea Beck's three-part definition of lawfare: "(1) the misuse of the law in order to, (2) achieve a military objective, and (3) undermine the legal framework." The analysis reveals that China's Arctic engagement does not fully constitute lawfare according to this definition. Rather than misusing legal frameworks, China operates within existing structures …

China Maritime Report No. 46: China's Fishermen Spies: Intelligence Specialists In The Maritime Militia, Ryan D. Martinson

CMSI China Maritime Reports

Main Findings

• Collecting and reporting maritime intelligence is a core mission of China’s maritime militia. Militia forces help fill in “blind spots” (补盲) for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and enhance its situational awareness. They are widely dispersed in the waters of greatest strategic and operational importance to Beijing, available in large numbers, extremely familiar with the operating environment, and, the PLA believes, less provocative than other military instruments.
• Militia forces that specialize in intelligence collection are organized into “maritime reconnaissance” (海上侦察) units. Located in China’s coastal provinces, autonomous regions, and provincial-level cities, these units likely number in the hundreds. …

Cmsi Translations #17: Analysis Of Problems With Warship Damage Control Plans And Methods For Preparing Damage Control Plans, Jian Huajun, Zhu Haishi

CMSI Translations

“Damage control” (sunhai kongzhi, or just sunguan) refers to measures and actions taken by a warship for the prevention, control, and elimination of damage in order to maintain or recover its vitality (shengmingli). If a warship suffers an accident, this could result in major casualties among the crew and cause damage to the ship’s equipment; it might also impact the ship’s vitality. The crew’s normal level of damage control training determines the success or failure of damage control. In order to fully leverage the active role of crew members in damage control and fully leverage the effectiveness of damage control, …

A New Step In China’S Military Reform, Joel Wuthnow

Joint Force Quarterly

Joel Wuthnow, a senior research fellow in NDU’s Institute of National Strategic Studies, discusses the current state of military reform in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA). In April 2024, Xi Jinping launched a sweeping military reorganization aimed at enhancing the PLA's ability to achieve information dominance and conduct integrated joint operations. The reform dismantled the Strategic Support Force, introduced a new Information Support Force (ISF), and placed key support elements under Xi’s direct control—marking the PLA’s most significant structural change in five years. Motivated in part by lessons from Russia’s failures in Ukraine, the changes aim to boost PLA readiness …

Cmsi Translations #16: Tracking Their Wake: How Strong Is The U.S. Navy Today?, Fang Zheng

CMSI Translations

Nearly 80 years have passed since the end of World War Two, and during this time the U.S. Navy has always ranked as the number one navy in the world, mainly thanks to support from America’s enormous national power. But for the past ten years or so, with the great decline of America’s economy, the U.S. Navy has had to face more and more problems. For example, the service lives of ships have grown longer and longer. There has been a serious lack of repairs and maintenance work. The speed of shipbuilding has noticeably slowed. And [the U.S. Navy’s] newest …

Parameters Spring 2025, Usawc Press

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

Welcome to the Spring 2025 issue of Parameters. This issue consists of an In Focus special commentary, three forums (Russia, Ukraine, and NATO; Strategic Competition and Managing National Security; and Joint Sustainment Strategies), the regular Civil-Military Relations Corner installment, and a review essay.

Adapting Us Defense Strategy To Great-Power Competition, Ionut C. Popescu

The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters

American defense strategy must shift to face the challenges of the new era of great-power competition. This article outlines the trade-offs involved among competing priorities and regions and proposes five strategic pillars to guide the development of a US military strategy, doctrine, and force structure optimized for the needs of the great-power competition era. Without the strategic planning needed to align the Pentagon’s investments and decisions according to great-power competition requirements, the United States may fail to prevent an avoidable strategic disaster by not preparing properly for China’s likely military quest for regional and, later, global hegemony.

Cmsi Note 14: Bridges Over Troubled Waters: Shuiqiao-Class Landing Barges In Pla Navy Amphibious Operations, J. Michael Dahm, Thomas Shugart

CMSI Notes

CMSI’s Perspectives and Key Takeaways

• The China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) Offshore & Defense Engineering Company (COMEC) has developed three specialized self-propelled landing barges that link together to form an 820-meter (2690 foot) composite relocatable pier.
• In early March 2025, the first set of three barges conducted sea trials and formed a relocatable pier on a beach near Zhanjiang, Guangdong, in southern China.
• A second, identical set of three landing barges is still under construction in southern China.
• Analysts have dubbed this class of barge “Shuiqiao” (literally “water bridge” (水桥) in Chinese), tentatively categorizing it as “landing platform …

China’S Infiltration Of The U.S. Higher Education System, Joshua Harden

Helms School of Government Spring Public Policy Conference

The People’s Republic of China has established numerous methodologies for power projection. A portion of this process is its assertion and coercion of higher education to spread communist ideology and Sino-centric narratives to either directly or indirectly press the goals of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). China’s assertion of soft power in higher education highlights an acute risk to the stability of a democratic government as its principles are slowly eroded. The CCP utilizes the internationalism of higher education, foreign exchange students, and the development of higher education institutions abroad to facilitate the ideological change of a nation’s image. The …

Chinese Strategic Cognitive Warfare Use Of Tiktok And Social Media, Johnny B. Davis

Helms School of Government Spring Public Policy Conference

The 21st century is the era of cognitive warfare and messaging, reshaping warfare, diplomacy, and economics. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) holds that the pillars of cognitive warfare are public opinion, psychological operations, and legal influence. Further, Cognitive Warfare is actions and operations “to affect attitudes and behaviors, by influencing, protecting, or disrupting individual, group, or population level cognition, to gain an advantage over an adversary.” Cognitive warfare operations seek “to modify perceptions of reality, whole-of-society manipulation has become a new norm, with human cognition shaping to be a critical realm of warfare.” The People's Republic of China (PRC) …

Cmsi Note 13: Pla Navy Enhances Realistic Combat Training: Observations Of Pla Navy Operations Around Taiwan, K. Tristan Tang

CMSI Notes

Key Takeaways

• Chinese activities around Taiwan in the first two months of 2025 indicate that the PLA is strengthening realistic combat training around the island. This trend aligns closely with the PLA’s emphasis in recent years on using peacetime interactions with foreign forces to achieve training outcomes, a practice it calls “using the enemy to train the troops.”
• The PLA has exhibited a noticeable increase in the daily number of naval vessels operating around Taiwan, as well as increased frequency and scale of joint combat readiness patrols and maritime-aerial training exercises, when comparing January and February of this year to …

Cmsi Translations #15: Inscribing Loyalty While Endeavoring To Advance Into The Deep Blue, Qian Xiaohu, Mo Xiaoliang, Wang Guanbiao, Liu Bin

CMSI Translations

The sea and sky blend into a singular shade, with starlight accompanying the ship’s voyage. Somewhere the vast Pacific, the Chinese Navy's aircraft carrier formation is organizing to train, and the destroyer Nanchang, joining a carrier formation for the first time, is tasked with escort duty. Suddenly, two foreign vessels turn a wide arc one after the other and speed toward the carrier formation. “This is Chinese Navy Ship 101, please keep a safe distance from me and inform me of your intentions.” Nanchang quickly maneuvers and firmly maintains its position in the carrier formation. Simultaneously, the ship’s officer of …

White Sun War: The Campaign For Taiwan, Richard Norton, Mick Ryan

Naval War College Review

No abstract provided.

China’S New Navy: The Evolution Of Plan From The People’S Revolution To A 21st Century Cold War, Mao’S Army Goes To Sea: The Island Campaigns And The Founding Of China’S Navy, Andrew S. Erickson, Xiaobing Li, Toshi Yoshihara

Naval War College Review

No abstract provided.

War Without Surprises—Education For Command In The People’S Liberation Army Navy, Ryan D. Martinson

Naval War College Review

The PLA Navy will play a key role in any flash points and conflicts in the western Pacific. This study of professional military education for senior PLA Navy officers supplements analyses of platforms and capabilities with a look at how senior navy commanders are prepared to lead in combat.

Toward A More Effective Dod Contribution To Strategic Competition In The Western Hemisphere, R. Evan Ellis

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

©2025 R. Evan Ellis

Innovative new thinking on the security dimension of the challenges posed by the PRC’s engagement in Latin America and the DoD’s role in the whole-of-government US response is needed. This monograph highlights risks from PRC influence networks, digital architectures, and dual-use commercial facilities in the region, particularly at ports and in the space sector; shows how PRC economic engagement and other support sustains illiberal regimes, indirectly contributing to the risks these regimes pose by hosting criminal and terrorist groups and other US adversaries, such as Russia and Iran; and illustrates how commercial, people-to-people, and security engagements …

Cmsi Note #12: Finally, A Pla Navy Missile Gap?, Ian Easton

CMSI Notes

This month a PRC government-owned defense magazine published a special report on one of the U.S. Navy’s newer missiles, calling it a “huge threat” and predicting it will “massively change” the future of naval warfare. The missile? The AIM-174B, an air launched variant of the Navy’s Standard Missile 6 (SM-6). What is it about this weapon that warranted a special report by PRC experts?

CMSI’s Perspectives and Key Takeaways:

• A PRC government-owned defense magazine has called the U.S. Navy’s AIM-174B missile a “huge threat” and game-changer for the future of naval warfare.
• The PRC source says the American missile could …

China Maritime Report No. 45: The Pla Navy's Hospital Ship Fleet: Concerns, Developments, And Future Prospects, Jonathan Robinson

CMSI China Maritime Reports

Main Findings

• The PRC’s hospital ship ecosystem comprises at least 17 vessels. The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) operates 13 ships, while the state ship building sector has developed (or is developing) at least four civilian hospital ships for domestic and foreign clients.
• PLAN hospital ships serve two main missions: (1) Provide medical support to PLA personnel, especially those stationed around the mainland or on Chinese-occupied islands in the South China Sea. (2) Support maritime global health engagement, chiefly through missions conducted by the Peace Ark hospital ship.
• Almost a third (21) of the Peace Ark’s 71 port visits …

Cmsi Translations #14: Manual For Developing Ship Captains, Liu Xue, Li Mingyu

CMSI Translations

In 1949, the People's Navy set sail from Baimamiao in Jiangsu province. Throughout its journey, the People's Navy has produced numerous heroes, and an increasing number of talented personnel of all types have accelerated their growth on the deep blue waterways. Among them, Navy surface ship captains have become a shining group. How can young aspirants with dreams become captains?

The Dalian Naval Vessel Academy was established on November 22, 1949. It primarily focuses on cultivating military and political command officers for the Navy's surface forces, as well as technical officers in marine hydrology and surveying. Over the past 70 …

China Maritime Report No. 44: Dirty But Preparing To Fight: Vadm Li Pengcheng's Downfall Amid Increasing Plan Readiness, Christopher H. Sharman, Andrew S. Erickson

CMSI China Maritime Reports

Main Findings

• Although corruption runs deep in the PLA Navy (PLAN) and across China’s armed forces, disciplinary-related removals appear not to have a major impact on naval capabilities or operations.
• The fight against corruption within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has General Secretary Xi Jinping’s attention and appears to be picking up steam for 2025. The Standing Committee of the 14th National People’s Congress (NPC) issued a report on 25 December 2024 identifying Vice Admiral Li Pengcheng (李鹏程) as one of eight NPC deputies removed for “serious violations of discipline and the law.”
• Li was an officer on the fast …

Cmsi Translations #13: Mission Command Is Not The Antidote, Cui Yiliang

CMSI Translations

“Mission command” (renwushi zhihui) has become a buzzword across all branches of the U.S. military. The concept came into being in the early 19th century, borne from Prussian military experience, and became a treasured concept in Prussian/German military doctrine. Simply put, mission command is the delegation of decision-making power. The reason for delegating or subordinating decision-making is because, when compared with higher echelon command, front line units often have better situational awareness of their given area, and delegation of decision making authority can allow them to fully utilize this cognitive advantage and seize the time critical battle initiative.

Cmsi Translations #12: Strengthen Command Capabilities To Win Future Naval Battles, Wei Gong

CMSI Translations

Chairman Xi Jinping's emphasis on "strengthening command capabilities" has indicated the direction of effort and injected a powerful impetus for all-level commanders to fulfill their main responsibilities, meet challenges from adversaries, and win future naval battles. Observing the emerging patterns of new combat capabilities in new domains and reviewing the year's work to prepare for war, in the case of new combat platforms, commanders’ ability to strengthen their command capabilities is reflected in their dual responsibility for both the platform and the system. This includes the responsibilities to scientifically coordinate maneuver and firepower to address threats from individual ships and …

Pottery And Stone Objects From The Abbasid–Fatimid Periods At Ramla, Hagit Torgë

'Atiqot

The pottery assemblage from the excavation at Ramla comprises well-known vessel types of the late Abbasid–Fatimid periods, mostly dating between the ninth and eleventh centuries CE. Most of the vessels were locally made; however, fine-ware vessels imported from as far as Egypt and China, were also found. Other probably imported items from Egypt are a Shabti figurine and a fragment of green marble. These luxury finds indicate that the area was most likely part of the affluent neighborhood of Ramla uncovered south of the White Mosque in the Early Islamic period.

Sea Dragons: Special Operations And Chinese Military Strategy, John Chen, Joel Wuthnow

CMSI Red Books

As China continues to rise as a global sea power, its maritime strategy continues to evolve. Among these critical evolutions is one of the People’s Liberation Army’s naval special operations forces’ most elite units: the Sea Dragons. A small yet highly specialized unit, the Sea Dragons entered the global spotlight and international consciousness with the 2018 film Operation Red Sea, raising several questions for Chinese naval experts. What does Chinese military strategy and doctrine require of special forces, and specifically naval SOF, to be able to accomplish the mission, particularly along the Taiwan Strait and in the South China …

Sam Altman, Openai, And The Importance Of Corporate Governance, Lawrence J. Trautman, Larry D. Foster Ii

Journal of Law, Technology, & the Internet

The sudden firing of CEO Sam Altman by OpenAI’s three independent directors highlights concerns about whether a leading AI company, susceptible to internal conflict and unclear accusations, can be trusted to develop a technology with far-reaching consequences for billions of people.

This paper examines how OpenAI’s board of directors terminated CEO Sam Altman’s employment, a decision that risked hundreds of highly skilled employees walking out the door, disrupted billions of dollars in value, and jeopardized critical knowledge of this important technology. It is hoped that corporate directors—whether at for-profit and non-profit companies—along with venture capitalists, technologists, and government regulators can …

Authoritarian Strategic Alignments In The Ukraine War: Russia, Iran, North Korea, And China, Yasin Çağlar Kaya, Yunus Emre Aydin

Journal of Strategic Security

This article explores how Russia, Iran, China, and North Korea have adapted their strategies during the Ukraine war. Rather than forming treaty-based alliances, they have turned to flexible partnerships shaped by sanctions evasion, arms transfers, and coordinated diplomacy. The framework draws on concepts such as authoritarian solidarity, hedging, norm subsidiarity, and wartime strategic learning, and the analysis focuses on four domains of cooperation: defense industries, finance, information operations, and institutional platforms. Empirical cases highlight Iran’s drone supplies, North Korea’s transfer of artillery and munitions, and China’s provision of economic lifelines, with Russia serving as the central coordinator. These relationships display …

Surveying New Battlegrounds: Ukraine And The Future Of Cognitive Warfare, Chad M. Briggs, Anita Tusor

Journal of Strategic Security

Cognitive warfare (CW) has emerged as a decisive battlespace in modern conflict, shifting the focus from physical terrain to the perceptions and resilience of societies. This article analyzes the Russian Federation's application of CW in Ukraine since 2013, contrasting it with the strategic concepts developed by the People's Republic of China (PRC). Russia's approach, rooted in Soviet-era maskirovka and reflexive control, integrates cyber operations, disinformation, and the use of non-state proxies, including private military companies, organized crime, and the Russian Orthodox Church, to destabilize adversaries and manufacture uncertainty. In response, Ukraine has demonstrated remarkable resilience through a whole-of-society mobilization, effectively …