State of the Debate Commentary Strategic Issues Geo-economic Issues China's Armed Forces
General Issues Defense Budget Modernization Land Forces Naval Forces Air Forces Space Nuclear Weapons& Ballistic Missles
Political and Economic Conditions Regional Context US Policy Toward China Chinese Strategy, Policy & Views Country Overview
Terrorism & September 11th Spy Plane Missile Defense China and the RMA Arms Trade and Proliferation Taiwan Confrontation Cox Report and Aftermath
China Military Guide, GlobalSecurity.org
Taiwan Crisis, GlobalSecurity.org China WMD Database, Nuclear Threat Initiative and Center for Nonproliferation Studies China: Proliferation News & Resources, Carnegie Endowment US China Policy Symposium Report, National Defense University
China Arsenal, from the Federation of American Scientists:
Nuclear Weapons Special Weapons Agencies PLA Navy Air Force
Project on Defense Alternatives Publications The Project on Defense Alternatives
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This online resource library was last updated in April 2008 and is archived. Many hundreds of articles and studies on Chinese military power listed here are conveniently organized into categories. For years to come this site should remain one the very best resource sites on Chinese military power. Some small percentage of the links on this site will go bad each year. In most all such cases you should be able to locate the publication by searching for the publication by its name in quotation marks or by going to the personal webpage of the author. |
China's Military Capabilities
Frank W. Moore
Institute for Defense
and Disarmament Studies
In the past decade China's growing military capability has attracted a great deal of attention, but details about the current and likely near-future state of China's military power have been in short supply. While it is true that China is modernizing its forces and increasing defense spending, the prospective improvements in overall military capability need to be set against the very low-technology starting point of China's armed forces. Click here for the full article.
New Links
as of 30 April 2008
Arms Trade and Proliferation
China's Proliferation and the Impact of Trade Policy on Defense Industries in the United States and China
Hearing before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, 12-13 July 2007 (.pdf file).
SITE ARCHIVE: Arms Trade and Proliferation
China's Armed Forces - Air Forces
China's Air Force Modernization
Phillip C. Saunders and Erik R. Quam. Joint Force Quarterly, Fourth Quarter 2007 (.pdf file).
Offensive Airpower with Chinese Characteristics: Development, Capabilities, and Intentions
Erik Lin-Greenberg. Air and Space Power Journal, Fall 2007.
SITE ARCHIVE: China's Armed Forces - Air Forces
China's Armed Forces - Space
How China Loses the Coming Space War, Part 1
Geoffrey Forden. Wired.com, 10 January 2008.
How China Loses the Coming Space War, Part 2
Geoffrey Forden. Wired.com, 10 January 2008.
How China Loses the Coming Space War, Part 3
Geoffrey Forden. Wired.com, 10 January 2008.
Shenlong Space Plane Advances China's Military Space Potential
Richard Fisher, Jr. International Assessment and Strategy Center, 17 December 2007.
China's Space Program: Options for U.S.-China Cooperation
Jeffrey Logan. Congressional Research Service, 14 December 2007 (.pdf file).
The Chinese People's Liberation Army and Space Warfare
Larry M. Wortzel. Emerging United States-China Military Competition, American Enterprise Institute, 17 October 2007 (.pdf file).
China in Space: Implications for U.S. Military Strategy
P. Gregory Metzler. Joint Force Quarterly, Fourth Quarter 2007 (.pdf file).
China's Military Space Strategy
Ashley J. Tellis. Survival, 01 September 2007. Posted on the Carnegie Endowment website (.pdf file).
SITE ARCHIVE: China's Armed Forces - Space
China's Armed Forces - Defense Budget
Balancing China's Budgetary Priorities: Defense Spending and Domestic Challenges
Michael S. Chase. China Brief, Jamestown Foundation, 31 October 2007.
SITE ARCHIVE: China's Armed Forces - Defense Budget
China's Armed Forces - General Issues
Annual Report to Congress: Military Power of the People's Republic of China 2008
Department of Defense, 2008 (.pdf file).
The 'People' in the PLA: Recruitment, Training and Education in China's 80-Year-Old Military
Justin B. Liang and Sarah K. Snyder. National Bureau of Asian Research, 13 November 2007 (.pdf file).
The 2007 Report on the Chinese Military: The Top 10 List of Missing Topics
Dennis J. Blasko. Joint Force Quarterly, Fourth Quarter 2007 (.pdf file).
Right Sizing the People's Liberation Army: Exploring the Contours of China's Military
Roy Kamphausen and Andrew Scobell, eds. Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, September 2007 (.pdf file).
Report: China Biggest Asian Military Spender
The Associated Press, 11 June 2007.
Military Power of the People's Republic of China 2007
Office of the Secretary of Defense, 23 May 2007 (.pdf file).
Special Operations Forces in the People's Liberation Army and the Development of an Integral Unconventional Warfare Mission
Xavier Gerard Smith. Naval Postgraduate School, June 2005 (.pdf file).
SITE ARCHIVE: China's Armed Forces - General Issues
China's Armed Forces - Modernization
America's Strategic Response to China's Military Modernization
Ashton B. Carter and Jennifer C. Bulkeley. Harvard Asia Pacific Review, Winter 2007 (.pdf file).
SITE ARCHIVE: China's Armed Forces - Modernization
China's Armed Forces - Naval Forces
Chinese Submarine Patrols Rebound in 2007, but Remain Limited
Hans M. Kristensen. Strategic Security Blog, Federation of American Scientists, 07 January 2008.
Chinese Evaluations of the U.S. Navy Submarine Force
Naval War College Review, Winter 2008 (.pdf file.) (Note: scroll to page 68).
China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities - Background and Issues for Congress
Ronald O'Rourke. Congressional Research Service, updated 18 October 2007 (.pdf file).
Chinese Navy's Big Decoy
Pete's Intelligence Blog, 10 August 2007.
SITE ARCHIVE: China's Armed Forces - Naval Forces
Chinese Strategy, Policy and Views
Keeping An Eye on an Unruly Neighbor: Chinese Views of Economic Reform and Stability in North Korea
Bonnie Glaser, Scott Snyder and John S. Park. Center for Strategic and International Studies and U.S. Institute of Peace, 03 January 2008 (.pdf file).
China's Assymetrical Strategy
Eric Sayers. Center for Security Policy, 27 December 2007.
Understanding Chinese and U.S. Crisis Behavior
Wu Xinbo. The Washington Quarterly, Winter 2007-08 (.pdf file).
Why China Says 'No' to a U.S.-Iran Confrontation
Nicholas Berry. Foreign Policy Forum, 22 November 2007.
Contemporary Chinese Views of Europe
Karine Lisbonne-de Vergeron. Chatham House, November 2007 (.pdf file).
The Chinese Model of Development
Wei Pan. The Foreign Policy Centre, October 2007 (.pdf file).
China's Assessment of the War in Iraq: America's 'Deepest Quagmire' and the Implications for Chinese National Security
Michael S. Chase. China Brief, Jamestown Foundation, 19 September 2007.
New U.S. Maritime Strategy: Initial Chinese Responses
Andrew S. Erickson. China Security, Brookings Institution, Autumn 2007 (.pdf file).
Assessing China's Growing Influence in Africa
Bates Gill, Chin-Hao Huang and J. Stephen Morrison. China Security, Summer 2007 (.pdf file).
China in Oceania: New Forces in Pacific Politics
Terence Wesley-Smith. East-West Center, 2007 (.pdf file).
China's Military Diplomacy in an Era of Change
Kristen Gunness. Paper prepared for the National Defense University symposium on "China's Global Activism: Implications for U.S. Security Interests," 20 June 2006 (.pdf file).
SITE ARCHIVE: Chinese Strategy, Policy and Views
Country Overview
The Limits of a Smaller, Poorer China
Albert Keidel. Financial Times, 14 November 2007. Posted on the Carnegie Endowment website.
2007 Annual Report
Congressional-Executive Commisson on China, 10 October 2007 (.pdf file).
China's Premature Rise to Great Power
Liselotte Odgaard. AlterNet, 07 May 2007.
China Publications
MIT Center for International Studies.
SITE ARCHIVE: Country Overview
Political and Economic Conditions
Long Time Coming: The Prospects for Democracy in China
John L. Thornton. Foreign Affairs, January/February 2008.
Chinese Military Leadership after the 17th Congress: Hu's Guys or Whose Guys?
James Mulvenon. China Leadership Monitor, Hoover Institution, Winter 2008 (.pdf file).
China's Superpower Economy
John Tkacik. The Heritage Foundation, 28 December 2007 (.pdf file).
China's Looming Financial Reform Challenges
Pieter Bottelier. China Brief, Jamestown Foundation, 13 December 2007.
China's Real Energy Crisis
Richard Lester and Edward Steinfeld. Harvard Asia Pacific Review, Winter 2007 (.pdf file).
China Needs Help with Climate Change
Kelly Sims Gallagher. Current History, November 2007 (.pdf file).
China's Civil Society Organizations: What Future in the Health Sector?
Bates Gill et al. A Report of the Task Force on HIV/AIDS Delegation to China, June 13–20, 2007. Center for Strategic and International Studies, November 2007 (.pdf file).
China's 17th Party Congress: Leadership, Not Policy
Kerry Brown. Chatham House, November 2007 (.pdf file).
The Great Firewall: China's Misguided - and Futile - Attempt to Control What Happens Online
Oliver August. Wired Magazine, 23 October 2007.
Corruption Threatens China's Future
Minxin Pei. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, October 2007 (.pdf file).
China's New Military Elite
Li Cheng and Scott W. Harold. China Security, Brookings Institution, Autumn 2007 (.pdf file).
Hu Jintao and the PLA Brass
Alice Miller. China Leadership Monitor, Hoover Institution, Summer 2007.
China's Economic Fluctuations: Implications for its Rural Economy
Albert Keidel. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2007 (.pdf file).
China's New Civil-Military Dynamic: Challenges and Opportunities for PLA Modernization
Kristen A. Gunness. The CNA Corporation, 2006 (.pdf file).
SITE ARCHIVE: Political and Economic Conditions
Regional Context
China's 'Soft Power' in Southeast Asia
Thomas Lum, Wayne M. Morrison and Bruce Vaughn. Congressional Research Service, 04 January 2008 (.pdf file).
Keeping An Eye on an Unruly Neighbor: Chinese Views of Economic Reform and Stability in North Korea
Bonnie Glaser, Scott Snyder and John S. Park. Center for Strategic and International Studies and U.S. Institute of Peace, 03 January 2008 (.pdf file).
East Asian Security: Two Views
Gilbert Rozman and Chu Shulong. Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, 23 November 2007 (.pdf file).
The United States and ASEAN-China Relations: All Quiet on the Southeast Asian Front
Ian Storey. Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, 01 November 2007.
Sino-Japanese Competition for Central Asian Energy: China's Game to Win
Jacob Townsend and Amy King. China and Eurasia Forum Quarterly, Central Asia-Caucasus and Silk Road Studies Program, November 2007 (.pdf file).
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Indian Ocean and the Maritime Balance of Power in Historical Perspective
Emrys Chew. S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore, 25 October 2007 (.pdf file).
What Korean Unification Means to China
Zhang Quanyi. Nautilus Institute, 12 October 2007.
Crouching Alliance, Hidden Angst? Rumors of a Sino-Russian Military Alliance have been Exaggerated
Yu Bin. Yale Global, 10 October 2007.
India-China Competition Revealed in Ongoing Border Disputes
Mohan Malik. Power and Interest News Report, 09 October 2007.
Asia's Call to Arms
Joshua Kurlantzick. Time Magazine, 13 September 2007.
Economic Aspects of the Chinese-Central Asia Rapprochement
Sebastien Peyrouse. Central Asia-Caucasus Institute Silk Road Studies Program, September 2007 (.pdf file).
The Rise of China and the Strategic Implications for U.S.-Australia Relations
Panel moderated by Carlos Pascual. Brookings Institution, 20 April 2007 (.pdf file).
SITE ARCHIVE: Regional Context
Strategic Issues
A Mechanism to Stabilize U.S.-China-Japan Trilateral Relations in Asia
Shulong Chu. The Brookings Institution, January 2008.
Guang: China and the United States 'Do Not Have Strategic Conflicts' in Africa
Yang Guang. Interviewed by Stephanie Hanson. Council on Foreign Relations, 28 November 2007.
What Resource Wars?
David G. Victor. The National Interest, 12 November 2007.
African Perspectives on China
Mauro De Lorenzo. China Brief, American Enterprise Institute, 03 October 2007.
Growing Chinese Energy Demand: Is the World in Denial?
Malcolm Shealy and James P. Dorian. Center for Strategic and International Studies, October 2007 (.pdf file).
China's Expansion into and U.S. Withdrawal from Argentina's Telecommunications and Space Industries and the Implications for U.S. National Security
Janie Hulse. Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, 13 September 2007.
Africa-China-U.S. Trilateral Dialogue: Summary Report
Council on Foreign Relations, 11 September 2007 (.pdf file).
China's Quest for Overseas Oil
Erica Downs. Far Eastern Economic Review, September 2007 (.pdf file).
New China Worries: The Chinese Military is Snapping up the Latest in Cutting-Edge Western Technology: Is That Good?
Adam Segal. The International Economy, Fall 2007 (.pdf file).
SITE ARCHIVE: Strategic Issues
U.S. Policy Toward China
Taiwan and Fear in US-China Ties
Joseph S. Nye. Taipei Times, 14 January 2008.
Dealing With the Dragon
Paul Krugman. The New York Times, 04 January 2008.
Doubts Raised on Sales of U.S. High-Tech Equipment to China
Steven R. Weisman. International Herald Tribune, 02 January 2008.
The Rise of China and the Future of the West
G. John Ikenberry. Foreign Affairs, January/February 2008.
U.S.-China Military Contacts: Issues for Congress
Shirley A. Kan. Congressional Research Services, 12 December 2007 (.pdf file).
America's Strategic Response to China's Military Modernization
Ashton B. Carter and Jennifer C. Bulkeley. Harvard Asia Pacific Review, Winter 2007 (.pdf file).
The Political Significance of the U.S.-China Military Hotline
Power and Interest News Report, 15 November 2007.
2007 Report to Congress
Report of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, November 2007 (.pdf file).
The U.S. 'One China' Policy: Time for a Change?
Alan D. Romberg. Text of the 16th Annual Charles Neuhauser Memorial Lecture at the John K. Fairbank Center, Harvard University, 24 October 2007. Posted on the Stimson Center website.
Energy Bedfellows: Countering OPEC Through China-U.S. Cooperation
Sebastian Mallaby. Washington Post, 17 September 2007.
Moving the U.S.-ROK Alliance into the 21st Century
Institute for National Strategic Studies and Institute for Defense Analyses, September 2007 (.pdf file).
Chinese Military Power: What Vexes the United States and Why?
Jonathan D. Pollack. Orbis, Fall 2007 (.pdf file).
Promoting Energy and Partnership in Beijing and Washington
Zha Daojiong and Hu Weixing. The Washington Quarterly, Autumn 2007 (.pdf file).
China and the United States on the High Seas
Eric McVadon. China Security, Brookings Institution, Autumn 2007 (.pdf file).
Make Talk Not War: Strategic U.S.-China Military-to-Military Exchanges in the First Half of 2007
James Mulvenon. China Leadership Monitor, Hoover Institution, Summer 2007 (.pdf file).
SITE ARCHIVE: U.S. Policy Toward China
China and RMA
Military Hackers Turn To Commercial Electronic Attack Tools
David A. Fulghum and Robert Wall. Aviation Week, 20 January 2008.
Trojan Dragons: China's International Cyber War
John J. Tkacik, Jr. The Heritage Foundation, 12 December 2007 (.pdf file).
Coping with the Dragon: Essays on PLA Transformation and the U.S. Military
Center for Technology and National Security Policy, National Defense University, December 2007 (.pdf file).
Information Warfare: An Emerging and Preferred Tool of the People's Republic of China
William G. Perry. The Center for Security Policy, October 2007 (.pdf file).
China Emerges as Leader in Cyberwarfare
Robert Marquand and Ben Arnoldy. Christian Science Monitor, 14 September 2007.
China's Cyber Army is Preparing to March on America, says Pentagon
Tim Reid. The Times, UK, 08 September 2007.
SITE ARCHIVE: China and RMA
Taiwan Confrontation
Taiwan Faces Better PLA Ability
Andrei Chang. United Press International, 26 January 2008.
Boom and Bust: The Strengths and Weaknesses of Taiwan's Defense Strategy Emerge
Christopher Griffin. Armed Forces Journal, 08 January 2008.
China's Ability to Sustain War
Andrei Chang. United Press International, 04 January 2008.
China-Taiwan Relations: Beijing Keeps Its Cool
David G. Brown. Comparative Connections, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, January 2008 (.pdf file).
U.S.-Taiwan Relations: What’s the Problem?
Richard C. Bush III. The Brookings Institution, 03 December 2007.
Seizing the Opportunity for Change in the Taiwan Strait
Yun-han Chu and Andrew J. Nathan. The Washington Quarterly, Winter 2007-08 (.pdf file).
Democracy on the Rocks: Taiwan's Troubled Political System Since 2000
Dafydd Fell. Harvard Asia Pacific Review, Winter 2007 (.pdf file).
China Steps Up Military Focus on Taiwan
David Lague. The New York Times, 10 October 2007.
Taiwan Plans Missiles Able to Hit China
David Lague. The New York Times, 29 September 2007.
U.S.-China Relations After Resolution of Taiwan's Status
Roger Cliff and David A. Shlapak. RAND, 25 September 2007 (.pdf file).
SITE ARCHIVE: Taiwan Confrontation
Terrorism and September 11th
U.S.-China Counterterrorism Cooperation: Issues for U.S. Policy
Shirley A. Kan. Congressional Research Service, updated 10 October 2007 (.pdf file).
SITE ARCHIVE: Terrorism and September 11th
Geo-Economic Issues
China's Holdings of U.S. Securities: Implications for the U.S. Economy
Wayne M. Morrison and Marc Labonte. Congressional Research Service, 09 January 2008 (.pdf file).
The $1.4 Trillion Question
James Fallows. The Atlantic Monthly, January/February 2008.
The Great Fall of China
Walter Russell Mead. Los Angeles Times, 30 December 2007.
2007 Report to Congress on China's WTO Compliance
U.S. Trade Representative, 11 December 2007 (.pdf file).
The 'China Honeymoon' is Over
David Shambaugh. International Herald Tribune, 26 November 2007. Posted on the Brookings Institution website.
China's Compliance with WTO Commitments and Obligations: 2005-2007 Update
Terence P. Stewart, et al. Trade Lawyers Advisory Group, September 2007 (.pdf file).
Risks and Reform: The Role of Currency in the U.S.-China Relationship
Hearing before the Senate Committee on Finance, 28 March 2007.
EU China Strategy Paper 2007-2013
European Union, 2007 (.pdf file).
SITE ARCHIVE: Geo-Economic Issues
Research Sites
The Military Power of China
SinoDefence.com.
SITE ARCHIVE: Research Sites
The Project on Defense Alternatives
Email: pda(at)comw.org
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