Oct 15,2015 Special Forum

Dreaming Big, Acting Big: Xi’s Impact on China’s Military Development

Xi Jinping emerged from his recent US visit with no meaningful new constraints on the development, deployment, and use of China’s military. Constructively, as part of a larger UN support package, he unveiled a Chinese plan to establish a police squad and 8,000 standby troops for UN Peacekeeping. Despite an ambiguous statement of intent to […]

Andrew Erickson

Asymmetry , China Military Dream , Kill-Chain , National identity , Sino-American military tensions , South China Sea

Apr 11,2014 Open Forum

The Budget This Time: Taking the Measure of China’s Defense Spending

1Early last month, China announced its projected 2014 defense budget of 808 billion yuan (roughly USD 132 billion), a 12.2 percent increase over the previous year. This continues the double-digit spending increases in nominal terms since 1989 (2010 was the exception, most likely because of priorities adjusted in the wake of the global financial crisis). […]

Andrew Erickson

Defense budget , military capabilities , New Historic Missions , transparency