U.S. Defense Bill Seeks to Counter China

Katie O'Keefe and Siobhan Hughes
Wall Street Journal
Congress is preparing to enact a defense-policy bill that some lawmakers say is tougher on China than any in history, as a bipartisan movement to confront Beijing gathers steam. The measure, an annual policy bill that will authorize $716 billion in...

China’s Arms Sales Rise as It Vies with U.S. for Influence on the World Stage

Kristin Huang
South China Morning Post
Research group highlights Beijing’s growing share of global arms trade as it tries to strengthen ties with key allies.

China May Consider These Countries for Its Overseas Military Base

Ralph Jennings
Forbes
China is most likely to put more military bases on the African east coast, as well as along the Indian Ocean or Arabian Sea.

China Congress: Military Facelift a Sign of Bigger Changes

Cheng Li
BBC
Of the many noteworthy developments that have characterised Chinese President Xi Jinping's first five-year term, none stands out as much as military reform, and this reveals a great deal about the coming political trajectory in China, writes...

Chinese Academics Prod Beijing to Consider North Korea Contingencies

Reuters Staff
Reuters
Chinese academics are publicly broaching the idea that China and the United States should share plans on how to deal with a potential conflict on the Korean Peninsula, a sign some say of how North Korea’s weapons test may be making Beijing more open...

China’s Stunning Debut on the International Scene

Geoffrey Aronson
This month, Chinese naval vessels departed the port of Zhanjiang for the East African country of Djibouti, the site of China’s first overseas military base, which is set to begin operations later this year. An editorial in the state-run Global Times...

Chinese Jets Intercept US Surveillance Plane: US Officials

Idrees Ali
Reuters
Two Chinese fighter jets intercepted a U.S. Navy surveillance plane over the East China Sea at the weekend, with one jet coming within about 300 feet (91 meters) of the American aircraft, U.S. officials said on Monday.

China Cancels Military Meeting With Vietnam Over Territorial Dispute

Mike Ives
New York Times
Analysts, citing government sources, said that the Chinese delegation had unexpectedly cut short a trip to Vietnam after tempers flared during a closed-door discussion on disputed territories in the South China Sea.

China Discovers the Price of Global Power: Soldiers Returning in Caskets

Jeremy Page and Matina Stevis
Wall Street Journal
Xi’s quest to make his nation a military player on the world stage provokes soul-searching as China absorbs its first combat casualties in decades

Conversation

08.25.16

Could China Now Defeat the United States in a Battle Over the South China Sea or Taiwan?

Joel Wuthnow, Phillip C. Saunders & more
Chinese Communist Party Secretary Xi Jinping kicked off the latest round of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) reforms at a September 3, 2015 military parade. The reforms could result in a leaner, more combat-effective PLA. This could create new...

Ailing Economy Slows China’s Military Expansion

Jeremy Page
Wall Street Journal
Much of this year’s budget will go toward major restructuring of armed forces, official says.

Japan's 'Profound' New American Military Ties Are All About China: Q&A

Robert Marquand
Christian Science Monitor
Japan's parliament passes the most sweeping changes to Japan's defense policy since World War II.

Two Way Street

08.01.15

China’s Foreign Policy Isn’t Transparent? You’ve Got to Be Kidding

Chu Yin from Two Way Street
In her recent article, “What China’s Lack of Transparency Means for U.S. Policy,” U.S.-China relations expert Susan Shirk caused a stir when she argued that China’s “lack of transparency” around public policy making, defense, national security, and...

Reports

10.01.14

‘Not an Idea We Have to Shun’

Christopher D. Yung and Ross Rustici with Scott Devary and Jenny Lin
Institute for National Strategic Studies
China’s expanding international economic interests are likely to generate increasing demands for its navy, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), to operate out of area to protect Chinese citizens, investments, and sea lines of communication. The...

U.S. Navy Official Says China Military Relations Have Improved ‘Modestly’

Chun Han Wong
Wall Street Journal
Relations between the U.S. and Chinese militaries have improved “modestly” in the past year, a senior U.S. Navy official said, despite discord over territorial tensions and strategic issues in the Asian-Pacific region.

Senior Diplomat William Burns in China Amid Tension Over Beijing’s Military Development, Island Disputes

CBS News
The meeting was seen as helpful in clearing up misunderstanding, but nothing in the way of significant progress. 

Reports

09.30.13

Chinese Military Modernization and Force Development

Anthony H. Cordesman, Ashley Hess, and Nicholas S. Yarosh
Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
China’s military development has become a key focus of U.S. security policy as well as that of virtually all Asia-Pacific states. This report from the CSIS Burke Chair in Strategy examines trends in Chinese strategy, military spending, and military...

Reports

09.10.13

Threading the Needle: Proposals for U.S. and Chinese Actions on Arms Sales to Taiwan

Piin-Fen Kok and David J. Firestein
EastWest Institute
The sale of U.S. arms to Taiwan has been an enduring source of friction between the United States and China. To China, Taiwan is a “core” interest. Though the United States publicly committed itself, through the August 17, 1982 Joint Communique with...

How The American Military Dwarfs China’s In One Infographic

Geoffrey Ingersoll
Business Insider
An infographic from the U.S.C. U.S.-China Institute illustrates well just how outgunned China (and everyone, generally) is by the U.S., regarding firepower, nuclear warhead counts and even the balance of power in the Taiwan Strait...

Reports

04.30.12

China’s Assertive Behavior

Michael D. Swaine
He Jianan
China Leadership Monitor
This essay focuses in particular on the military’s role in leadership decision-making and lower-level implementation with regard to political-military crises with foreign powers. This is a difficult topic to tackle: very little detailed, reliable...

Reports

01.06.12

China’s Assertive Behavior

Michael D. Swaine
He Jianan
China Leadership Monitor
In examining the origins, characteristics, and likely future course of a “more assertive” China, many analysts point to the supposedly growing role of the Chinese military (or People’s Liberation Army—PLA) in Beijing’s overall foreign and foreign-...

Reports

09.21.11

China’s Assertive Behavior

Michael D. Swaine and M. Taylor Fravel
He Jianan
China Leadership Monitor
The authors of this essay examine Chinese assertiveness concerning U.S. political and military behavior along China’s maritime periphery. This topic inevitably also concerns Chinese behavior toward Japan, South Korea, and some ASEAN nations, given...

Reports

11.01.06

Chinese Nuclear Forces and U.S. Nuclear War Planning

Hans M. Kristensen, Robert S. Norris, Matthew G. McKinzie
Natural Resources Defense Council
China and the United States have been aiming their nuclear weapons at each other for decades, but now—with the absence of a definitive enemy such as the Soviet Union—the United States has elevated China to fill the void to help justify modernizing...