CIMSEC – To help counter the gray zone strategy the Chinese Communist Party regularly uses, the U.S. military should consider non-traditional approaches to competition. 

National Interest – Here’s a glimpse of yet more coming attractions from the Chinese Navy in terms of anti-submarine warfare. 

National Interest – And if so, would Washington stand for a Chinese naval presence so close to home?

Breaking Defense – Dean Cheng writes that the PLA Navy (PLAN) and PLA Air Force (PLAAF) are now the world’s largest, but China’s military modernization is not only focused on equipment. The PRC appears to be  developing new strategies and doctrines.

CIMSEC – A Chinese fishing vessel appears in a sensitive location—near the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, a South China Sea reef, or just offshore from a U.S. military base. Is it an “ordinary” fishing boat, or is it maritime militia? This straightforward question seldom yields straightforward answers.

Honolulu Civil Beat – Hawaii’s commercial fishermen and the U.S. military have a potential threat in common — China’s fleet of government-subsidized ships that has been straying into more distant waters in search of seafood and more influence.

China Maritime Studies Institute – This volume examines the role of popular nationalism in China’s maritime conduct. 

China Aerospace Studies Institute – This report is the next in the series of studies by the China Aerospace Studies Institute that seeks to lay the foundation for better understanding the Aerospace Sector of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). This report describes China’s ballistic missile capabilities and development. It reviews the history of the PRC’s research and development of ballistic missiles and traces the institutions that are key to these systems. It details the components and systems that are integral to these weapons and describes the companies, research academies, and production facilities, that form the core of the industry in the PRC.

Naval News – China has a massive submarine building program. Yet new classes of submarine may only be revealed after they have been built. Right now Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) may give us our first glimpse of a completely new type.

StrategyPage – The hardest working ships in the South China Sea are two Chinese two replenishment (“sustainment”) ships designed expressly tp support Chinese islands created or occupied in the South China Sea.

War Zone – The Chinese government reportedly has plans to refurbish and expand an airstrip on the island of Kanton, also spelled Canton, part of the archipelago nation of Kiribati in the central Pacific Ocean. If true, this could give Beijing an airbase in an incredibly strategical location, between North America and New Zealand, potentially giving China’s military much greater reach throughout a critical and increasingly tense region.

South China Morning Post – China’s newly commissioned nuclear-powered submarine is armed with the country’s most powerful submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) capable of hitting the US mainland.

Global Times –  China’s eighth Type 071 amphibious landing ship recently made its first publicly known maritime exercise appearance, and it has gained operational capabilities in troops delivery, air defense, anti-ship and land attack after entering service with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy late last year.

CIMSEC – The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has embarked on a massive investment spree and established a meaningful stake in the control of global maritime infrastructure. These investments include the construction of new ports, the expansion and modernization of cargo handling facilities, the purchase of port management rights, and the establishment of control over the operations of petroleum storage and transshipment depots. Much of the capital is formally sourced from the PRC’s One Belt One Road Initiative, but major investments are also being made directly by state-owned, PLA-linked, and other Chinese enterprises. The scope of control over global maritime infrastructure has become sufficiently large to be of concern. The U.S. Navy’s 2021 Chief of Navy Operations NAVPLAN warns that China is, “extending their infrastructure across the globe to control access to critical waterways.“

USNI News – China has dispatched three ships to Indonesia to assist in the salvaging of the Indonesian attack submarine KRI Nanggala (402). Two ships – the People’s Liberation Army Navy Ocean Tug Nantuo-195and PLAN Ocean Salvage and Rescue Ship Yongxing Dao-863 – arrived on scene May 3 and the third ship, scientific research vessel Tan Suo 2, is expected to arrive today.

Modern War Institute – In a recent CNA study, we found that in a future, large-scale conflict, Chinese forces will likely employ a modern and unique irregular warfare concept, focused on information and influence, tightly integrated with conventional capabilities. A return to great power competition does not portend a shift away from irregular warfare to conventional warfare, but rather an amalgamation of the two.

Global Times – The Liaoning aircraft carrier task group of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy reportedly crossed the Miyako Strait again on Monday and sent an aircraft near the Diaoyu Islands on Tuesday, which Chinese experts said sends a warning to Japan amid the country’s recent, repeated wrong statements on China’s Diaoyu Islands. Similar PLA activities will likely become routine depending on China-Japan relations, experts said.

Global Times – Although the US reaffirmed earlier in April that it is committed to the defense of Japan under their security treaty, which covers the Diaoyu Islands where China and Japan have a dispute, the China Coast Guard (CCG) continued to send its vessels to patrol the surrounding waters on Sunday, with analysts saying that China is making it clear to relevant countries that they are unable to challenge China’s determination to safeguard its territories.

Global Times – President Xi Jinping commissioned three main battle warships into the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy on Friday, the service’s 72nd founding anniversary, with analysts saying on Saturday that the unprecedented, concentrated warship commissioning represents the rapid development of the PLA Navy and Chinese shipbuilding industry amid the grave military struggle pressure China is facing.

War on the Rocks – When General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Tanmen village in April 2013, he famously urged China’s South China Sea fishers to “build big boats, charge forth on the deep sea, and catch big fish.” As recent scenes from Whitsun Reef reveal, however, very little “charging” is taking place, which means very few “big fish.” But, in one respect, Chinese fishers have clearly obeyed Xi’s command: They have built some very large boats.

USNI News – A recently completed pier at the Chinese naval base near the entrance to the Red Sea is large enough to support an aircraft carrier.

Naval News – The Chinese Navy is radically modernizing its capabilities. Chief among these are a fleet of aircraft carriers. A new satellite image clearly shows the Type-003 aircraft carrier taking shape in Shanghai, and it is the largest so far.

China Aerospace Studies Institute – A comprehensive look at the ‘software’ of the PLAAF across its full history.

CNN – They’ve been dubbed China’s “Little Blue Men,” an allegedly Beijing-controlled maritime militia that analysts say could be hundreds of boats and thousands of crew members strong. China doesn’t acknowledge their existence and when questioned, refers to them as a “so-called maritime militia.”

USNI Proceedings – China took lessons from Operation Desert Storm and remade itself with foreign technology to build a formidable joint military force with expeditionary ambitions.