– Aviation Week and Space Technology – Australian analysts are starting to examine how combat between the U.S. and China over the Taiwan Strait might play out and what’s needed to produce a win for small, high-tech forces.

–Chinese Navy – Military strength is eluding China – A different view of the Chinese Navy’s strength…

– Asahi Shimbun – Robert Willard, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, said he believes that China aspires to become a “global military (power)” by extending its influence beyond its regional waters.

– China Sign Post – As we enter the Year of the Hare, China has achieved a major military milestone far faster than many foreign observers thought possible. In a December 2010 interview with veteran national security journalist Yoichi Kato of the Asahi Shimbun, Admiral Robert F. Willard, Commander, U.S. Pacific Command, offered significant new revelations.

– Reuters – China may be ready to launch its first aircraft carrier in 2011, Chinese military and political sources said on Thursday, a year ahead of U.S. military analysts’ expectations.

– Reuters – Here are some facts about China’s carrier ambitions.

– Foreign Affairs – A look at the looming U.S.-Chinese naval rivalry.

– Armed Forces Journal – 10 myths America holds about China.

– Chinese Navy – China’s Navy: A Turn to Corbett? – Chinese navalists have been mixing some Sir Julian Corbett into their Mahanian cocktails lately. That is wise on their part, and something that bears American scrutiny.

– Air Force – New generations of enemy missiles, and a willingness to use them, could put air bases under siege like never before.

– China Security – Thomas P.M. Barnett takes a look at the Air Sea Battle Concept.

– Air Force – The unchecked growth of China’s military seems designed to blunt US advantages.

– AsiaEye – Has China launched an ocean-surveillance satellite constellation?

– The Diplomat – In this first in a series on the region’s navies, The Diplomat looks at how to measure naval power—including the US and China’s.

– New York Times – Why the younger generation of Chinese military officers dislikes the U.S.

– Defense Technology International – Has China cracked the secret of building stealth submarines?

– New York Times – The diplomatic discord set off by Japan’s recent detention of a Chinese fishing trawler captain points to what foreign military officials say is a growing source of friction along China’s borders: civilian vessels plying disputed waters — and sometimes acting as proxies for the Chinese Navy.

– The Diplomat – Reports of the death of the PLA’s naval expansion are exaggerated. Any lull in development is likely to prove temporary.

– Washington Post – Robert D. Kaplan writes that the greatest geopolitical development that has occurred largely beneath the radar of our Middle East-focused media over the past decade has been the rise of Chinese sea power.

– The Australian – Tensions between China and Japan are a worrying reminder that Asia’s maritime security order is under dangerous strain.

Thanks to Cris for the link!

– Asia Times – Among all of Beijing’s options to challenge US naval supremacy, the weapon that sends chills down China’s opponents’ spines is what is regarded as a Wunderwaffe, or wonder weapon, the Dong Feng 21D, the world’s first anti-ship ballistic missile. If the assessments of observers prove correct, China’s wonder weapon is to make its way into history books – with it, China would be able to take on the US Navy’s aircraft carriers, the pride of the US military.

Christian Science Monitor – China warships dock in Burma, rattling rival naval power India

China and India have overlapping ambitions in the Indian Ocean. So as China flexes its naval reach, India is left debating how to assume leadership in the Indian Ocean.

Associated Press – Chinese navy to hold drills in Yellow Sea

China said Sunday its navy will stage live-ammunition drills in the Yellow Sea this week, after it condemned U.S.-South Korean joint naval exercises in the region and vowed to respond in kind.

University of Sydney – The Gathering Storm: China’s Challenge to US Power in Asia

Transcript of the fourth annual Michael Hintze Lecture in International Security, delivered by Professor John Mearsheimer.

(Thanks to Cris for the link!)

Defense Technology International – China Report – No Alarmism Allowed

Bill Sweetman writes that the Pentagon’s new report on China’s military power is so muted that it is no longer even called that. Although the filename includes the acronym CMPR – China Military Power Report – the title is “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China”, which reads a little as if China’s military was expanding and modernizing all by itself. China’s leaders are not as inhibited, dropping hints in recent days that first tests are imminent of the Dong Feng 21D (DF-21D) anti-ship ballistic missile system, accompanied by artwork showing its intended mission.