– The Diplomat – An excellent overview of the forms such a conflict could take. This is Part 5 of a 5 part series. Use the links at the top of the page to read all 5 parts.

– The Diplomat – China’s development and use of naval and non-naval, non-military sea power has become a cause for concern – one that could alter the regional balance.

– The Diplomat – It’s worth spending a bit of time to discuss how the PRC’s anti-access capabilities have come together. Much recent work has concerned the DF-21A “carrier killer” ballistic missile, but that capability represents only a small part of the system of anti-access systems that China operates.

– Foreign Policy – China’s about to find out how hard it is to run an aircraft carrier.

– BBC – China’s first aircraft carrier has entered into service, the Defence Ministry says.

– Reuters – The U.S. and Chinese navies have carried out drills to combat pirates off the Horn of Africa in a rare joint military exercise between the powerful nations.

– Air Force – Mistrust, international military buildups, and competing territorial claims bring plenty of tension to a vital waterway that China considers an internal sea.

– BBC – Two Chinese patrol ships have been sent to islands disputed with Japan, which has sealed a deal to purchase the territory, Chinese state media say.

– The Diplomat – China’s navy appears on the verge of creating a new class of warship. It could eventually alter the balance of naval power in the region.

– The Diplomat – China’s navy is not poised to speed across the Pacific to threaten America the way the Soviet Union once did, if not worse.

– Diplomat – As a regularly scheduled biennial exercise, RIMPAC happens regardless of the extant political situation in the Pacific. However, the absence of the People’s Liberation Army Navy – and the participation of Russia and India for the first time – combined with new tensions in the South China Sea, leaves the unavoidable impression that these exercises are geared towards managing the increasing naval power of China.

– US Naval War College Review – In October 2006 General Charles Wald, Deputy Commander U.S. European Command, brought “Phase Zero” into the joint lexicon with the publication of an article, “The Phase Zero Campaign.” Over the last five years the concept of taking coordinated action in peacetime to affect the strategic environment has become widely accepted and is now integrated into theater campaign plans. These activities focus on building capacity of partners and influencing potential adversaries to avoid war. In contrast, Chinese strategic culture has encouraged taking actions to defeat an enemy prior to the onset of hostilities for two and a half millennia.

– US Naval War College Review – Air and aerospace power has been fundamental for defending China’s “near seas”-encompassing the Bohai Gulf, the Yellow Sea, and the East and South China Seas—since the founding of the People’s Republic.

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – The buildup of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has caused quite a stir with the United States and its allies over the past few years. But China hardly has us over a barrel.

– Foreign Policy – Chinese officials were caught Friday with their pants down when the Defense Ministry was forced to admit in a brief statement that a naval frigate has run aground on the south eastern edge of the Spratly Islands– waters the Philippine government claims exclusive sovereignty over. Though Chinese officials described the vessels as a part of a “routine patrol,” the incident comes barely two weeks after the Philippine navy openly accused China of ignoring a June agreement to withdraw all ships from the Scarborough Shoal.

– Congressional Research Service – An excellent analysis of the current and future state of the Chinese Navy.

– US Naval Institute Proceedings – Its first aircraft carrier is more significant for what she foreshadows than what she may show the world in the immediate future.

– US Naval War College Review – The mine warfare experiences of America and other nations are not lost on the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). Chinese naval analysts and historians understand the asymmetric potential for mine warfare to “baffle the enemy, and thus achieve exceptional combat results.” Mines provide what some have de- scribed as “affordable security via asymmetric means.”

– Reuters – In the early years of China’s rise to economic and military prowess, the guiding principle for its government was Deng Xiaoping’s maxim: “Hide Your Strength, Bide Your Time.” Now, more than three decades after paramount leader Deng launched his reforms, that policy has seemingly lapsed or simply become unworkable as China’s military muscle becomes too expansive to conceal and its ambitions too pressing to postpone.

– Foreign Policy – Here’s what you won’t find in the Defense Department’s latest report on China’s military rise.

Reposted – I fixed the link to this article. Thanks to Terry for mentioning it to me!

– Foreign Policy – Here’s what you won’t find in the Defense Department’s latest report on China’s military rise.

– The Economist – America’s navy riles China in its backyard

– DefenseTech – An exceprt from an analysis of what the J-15 will mean for China’s neighbors written last sumer by DefenseTech’s go to China guru Andrew Erickson.

– DefenseTech – Some photos of China’s entire carrier-based fighter fleet.

– Information Dissemination – A catch up on the activities around the different Chinese shipyards.