A number of recent analyses have emphasized that China is seizing pandemic-created opportunities to improve its position in the South China Sea as other countries are distracted or otherwise unable to respond. A key implication of such claims is that absent the pandemic, China would have acted differently and perhaps with more restraint. In a …
China’s “World-Class Military” Ambitions: Origins and Implications
An article based on my testimony last summer before the USCC has been published The Washington Quarterly. I examine what the concept of building a “world-class military” as mentioned by Xi Jinping since 2016, especially in the 19th Part Congress Work Report. I argue that the phrase “world-class military” should be viewed as a general, …
China and the Border Dispute with India After 1962
I have contributed a chapter to the Routledge Handbook of China–India Relations. Specifically, I review China’s approach to its disputed border with India after the war between the two countries in 1962. China’s approach has emphasized maintaining stability on its southwestern frontier, defined as preventing the escalation of armed conflict on the border and maintaining …
Dangerous Confidence?: Chinese Views on Nuclear Escalation
In a new article in International Security, Fiona Cunningham and I explore Chinese views of nuclear escalation. Our review of original Chinese-language sources and interviews with members of China’s strategic community suggest that China is skeptical that nuclear escalation could be controlled once nuclear weapons are used and, thus, leaders would be restrained from pursuing …
M Taylor Fravel named director of the MIT Security Studies Program
On July 1, 2019, I will take over as director of the Security Studies Program at MIT. Read the press release here.
China as a “World-Class Military”
Yesterday, I testified before the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which was established to review developments in China. The hearing examined the ambitions of China’s People’s Liberation Army’s as a “world-class military.” My testimony reviewed the origins of the use “world-class military” to argue that it should be viewed as a force development concept, …
War on the Rocks podcast
Last week, I spoke with Brad Carson, host of the Jaw-Jaw podcast over at War on the Rocks. We discussed my new book, Active Defense: China’s Military Strategy Since 1949. Listen to the podcast here.
The (evolving) art of war
MIT News has run a nice story about my new book. Read The (evolving) art of war.
Active Defense now available
My new book on China’s military strategy, Active Defense: China’s Military Strategy Since 1949, is now available, published by Princeton University Press. The book offers the first systematic study of the military strategies adopted by the People’s Republic of China since 1949. Overall, the PLA has formulated nine military strategies, three of them which constituted …
Major Changes in China’s Military Strategy
I recently published an article in International Security on China’s military strategy, entitled “Shifts in Warfare and Party Unity: Explaining China’s Changes in Military Strategy.” The article contains three main points: China has adopted nine military strategies since 1949, or what the PLA calls “strategic guidelines.” The strategies adopted in 1956, 1980 and 1993 represented …