Publishing Institution:
China Maritime Studies Institute, U.S. Naval War College
China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) scholars perform academic research from Chinese language sources to develop deeper insight into key aspects of China’s growing maritime power. Research is published to inform the Navy and engage the nation; CMSI faculty also advise current leaders and educate the Navy’s next generation. The Center for Naval Warfare Studies, as part of the U.S. Naval War College (NWC), provides a broad-based education as well as research and analysis to support several hundred students a year and inform the larger Department of the Navy senior leadership. Our CMSI combines significant linguistic and technological resources with a close proximity to many of the United States’ leading academic institutions, creating relationships with unrivaled intellectual synergies. In seeking to more fully understand the complexities of China’s emerging role in Asia-Pacific, CMSI continues to seek expanded collaborative relationships with government research centers, civilian academic institutions, and other relevant organizations. These partnerships facilitate research on China’s development as a maritime power.Visit Site
Resources:
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September 23, 2025
China Maritime Report #50: Foggy With a Chance of Surprise Attack: PLA Amphibious Deception in a Taiwan Scenario
By: Ian Easton -
August 13, 2025
China Maritime Report #49: The PLAN Corruption Paradox: Insights from the 1st Destroyer Flotilla
By: Ryan D. Martinson -
July 16, 2025
China Maritime Report #48: Great Inspectations: PRC Maritime Law Enforcement Operations in the Taiwan Strait
By: Julia Famularo -
May 28, 2025
China Maritime Report No. 47: The People of China's Navy and Other Maritime Forces: Extended Summary of Conference Findings
By: Andrew S. Erickson -
May 09, 2025
Sea Dragons: Special Operations and Chinese Military Strategy
By: John Chen, Joel Wuthnow -
April 23, 2025
China Maritime Report No. 46: China's Fishermen Spies: Intelligence Specialists in the Maritime Militia
By: Ryan D. Martinson -
February 10, 2025
China Maritime Report No. 45: The PLA Navy's Hospital Ship Fleet: Concerns, Developments, and Future Prospects
By: Jonathan Robinson -
January 24, 2025
China Maritime Report No. 44: Dirty But Preparing to Fight: VADM Li Pengcheng's Downfall Amid Increasing PLAN Readiness
By: Christopher Sharman, Andrew S. Erickson -
December 03, 2024
China Maritime Report No. 43: Shadow Force, A Look Inside the PLA Navy Reserve
By: Tiffany Tat -
October 09, 2024
China Maritime Report No. 42: Invasion Plans: Operation Causeway and Taiwan's Defense in World War II
By: Ian Easton -
September 04, 2024
China Maritime Report No. 41: One Force, Two Force, Red Force, Blue Force: PLA Navy Blue Force Development for Realistic Combat Training
By: J. Michael Dahm -
August 12, 2024
China Maritime Report No. 40: Onboard Political Control - The Ship Political Commissar in Chinese Merchant Shipping
By: Conor M. Kennedy -
June 20, 2024
China Maritime Report No. 39: A Hundred Men Wielding One Gun - Life, Duty, and Cultural Practices Aboard PLAN Submarines
By: Conor M. Kennedy -
May 07, 2024
China Maritime Report No. 38: PLAN Anti-Submarine Warfare Aircraft - Sensors, Weapons, and Operational Concepts
By: Eli Tirk, Daniel Salisbury -
April 15, 2024
China Maritime Report No. 37: Re-Engaging With the World: China's Military Diplomacy in 2023
By: Jie Gao, Kenneth W. Allen -
March 01, 2024
China Maritime Report No. 36: China's T-AGOS: The Dongjian Class Ocean Surveillance Ship
By: Devin Thorne -
February 08, 2024
China Maritime Report No. 35: Beyond Chinese Ferry Tales: The Rise of Deck Cargo Ships in China's Military Activities, 2023
By: J. Michael Dahm -
January 10, 2024
China Maritime Report No. 34: PLAN Submarine Training in the "New Era"
By: Christopher Sharman, Terry Hess -
November 30, 2023
China Maritime Report No. 33: China's Sea-Based Nuclear Deterrent: Organizational, Operational, and Strategic Implications
By: David C. Logan -
November 03, 2023
China Maritime Report No. 32: The PCH191 Modular Long-Range Rocket Launcher: Reshaping the PLA Army's Role in a Cross-Strait Campaign
By: Joshua Arostegui -
September 29, 2023
China Maritime Report No. 31: China's Submarine Industrial Base: State-Led Innovation with Chinese Characteristics
By: Sarah Kirchberger -
August 17, 2023
China Maritime Report No. 30: A Brief Technical History of PLAN Nuclear Submarines
By: Christopher P. Carlson, Howard Wang -
July 21, 2023
China Maritime Report No. 29: PLAN Mine Countermeasures: Platforms, Training, and Civil-Military Integration
By: Brian Waidelich, George Pollitt -
June 22, 2023
China Maritime Report No. 28: Bitterness Ends, Sweetness Begins: Organizational Changes to the PLAN Submarine Force Since 2015
By: J. Michael Dahm, Alison Zhao -
June 09, 2023
China Maritime Report No. 27: PLA Navy Submarine Leadership - Factors Affecting Operational Performance
By: Roderick Lee -
March 08, 2023
China Maritime Report No. 26: Beyond the First Battle: Overcoming a Protracted Blockade of Taiwan
By: Lonnie D. Henley -
January 26, 2023
The Maritime Fulcrum of the Indo-Pacific: Indonesia and Malaysia Respond to China’s Creeping Expansion in the South China Sea
By: Scott Bentley -
January 20, 2023
China Maritime Report No. 25: More Chinese Ferry Tales: China's Use of Civilian Shipping in Military Activities, 2021-2022
By: J. Michael Dahm -
November 07, 2022
China Maritime Report No. 24: Incubators of Sea Power: Vessel Training Centers and the Modernization of the PLAN Surface Fleet
By: Ryan D. Martinson -
October 01, 2022
China Maritime Report No. 23: The Type 075 LHD: Development, Missions, and Capabilities
By: Conor M. Kennedy, Daniel Caldwell -
July 01, 2022
China Maritime Report No. 22: Logistics Support for a Cross-Strait Invasion: The View from Beijing
By: Kevin McCauley -
May 01, 2022
China Maritime Report No. 21: Civilian Shipping and Maritime Militia: The Logistics Backbone of a Taiwan Invasion
By: Lonnie D. Henley -
April 01, 2022
China Maritime Report No. 20: The PLA Army Amphibious Force
By: Dennis J. Blasko -
March 01, 2022
China Maritime Report No. 19: The PLA Airborne Corps in a Joint Island Landing Campaign
By: Cristina L. Garafola -
January 01, 2022
China Maritime Report No. 18: Chinese Special Operations in a Large-Scale Island Landing
By: John Chen, Joel Wuthnow -
December 01, 2021
China Maritime Report No. 17: The PLA Army's New Helicopters: An "Easy Button" for Crossing the Taiwan Strait?
By: Tom Fox -
November 01, 2021
China Maritime Report No. 16: Chinese Ferry Tales: The PLA's Use of Civilian Shipping in Support of Over-the-Shore Logistics
By: J. Michael Dahm -
October 01, 2021
China Maritime Report No. 15: The New Chinese Marine Corps: A "Strategic Dagger" in a Cross-Strait Invasion
By: Conor Kennedy -
June 01, 2021
China Maritime Report No. 14: Chinese Views of the Military Balance in the Western Pacific
By: Eric Heginbotham -
May 12, 2021
Chinese Nationalism and the “Gray Zone”: Case Analyses of Public Opinion and PRC Maritime Policy
By: Andrew Chubb -
February 01, 2021
China Maritime Report No. 13: The Origins of "Near Seas Defense and Far Seas Protection"
By: Jennifer Rice, Erik Robb -
January 01, 2021
China Maritime Report No. 12: Sansha City in China's South China Sea Strategy: Building a System of Administrative Control
By: Zoe Haver -
December 01, 2020
China Maritime Report No. 11: Securing China's Lifelines across the Indian Ocean
By: Jeffrey Becker -
November 01, 2020
China Maritime Report No. 10: PLAN Force Structure Projection Concept, A Methodology for Looking Down Range
By: Christopher P. Carlson -
October 01, 2020
China Maritime Report No. 9: Organizing to Fight in the Far Seas, The Chinese Navy in an Era of Military Reform
By: Roderick Lee, Morgan Clemens -
September 01, 2020
China Maritime Report No. 8: Winning Friends and Influencing People: Naval Diplomacy with Chinese Characteristics
By: Timothy R. Heath -
August 01, 2020
China Maritime Report No. 7: Gwadar: China's Potential Strategic Strongpoint in Pakistan
By: Isaac B. Kardon, Conor M. Kennedy, Peter A. Dutton -
April 01, 2020
China Maritime Report No. 6: Djibouti: China's First Overseas Strategic Strongpoint
By: Peter A. Dutton, Isaac B. Kardon, Conor M. Kennedy -
February 01, 2020
China Maritime Report No. 5: China's Dreadnought? The PLA Navy's Type 055 Cruiser and Its Implications for the Future Maritime Security Environment
By: Daniel Caldwell, Joseph Freda, Lyle J. Goldstein -
December 01, 2019
Military Activities in the EEZ: A U.S.-China Dialogue on Security and International Law in the Maritime Commons
By: Peter A. Dutton -
December 01, 2019
China Maritime Report No. 4: Civil Transport in PLA Power Projection
By: Conor M. Kennedy -
November 01, 2018
China Maritime Report No. 3: China’s Distant-Ocean Survey Activities: Implications for U.S. National Security
By: Ryan D. Martinson, Peter A. Dutton -
February 01, 2018
Echelon Defense: The Role of Sea Power in Chinese Maritime Dispute Strategy
By: Ryan D. Martinson -
July 01, 2017
China's Evolving Surface Fleet
By: Peter A. Dutton, Ryan D. Martinson -
June 01, 2017
China Maritime Report No. 2: The Arming of China’s Maritime Frontier
By: Ryan D. Martinson -
March 01, 2017
China Maritime Report No. 1: China’s Third Sea Force, The People’s Armed Forces Maritime Militia: Tethered to the PLA
By: Conor M. Kennedy, Andrew S. Erickson -
May 01, 2015
Beyond the Wall: Chinese Far Seas Operation
By: Peter A. Dutton, Ryan D. Martinson -
August 01, 2014
The Recruitment, Education, and Training of PLA Navy Personnel
By: Kenneth Allen, Morgan Clemens -
February 01, 2014
China Near Seas Combat Capabilities
By: Andrew S. Erickson, Ryan D. Martinson, Peter A. Dutton -
November 01, 2013
No Substitute for Experience
By: Andrew S. Erickson, Austin M. Strange -
July 01, 2012
Not Congruent but Quite Complementary: U.S. and Chinese Approaches to Nontraditional Security
By: Lyle J. Goldstein -
August 01, 2011
A Dragon Eyes the Top of the World: Arctic Policy Debate and Discussion in China
By: David Curtis Wright -
July 01, 2010
U.S.-China Maritime Confidence Building Paradigms, Precedents, and Prospects
By: David Griffiths -
April 01, 2010
Five Dragons Stirring Up the Sea: Challenge and Opportunity in China’s Improving Maritime Enforcement Capabilities
By: Lyle J. Goldstein -
January 01, 2010
Chinese Civil-Military Relations in the Post-Deng Era
By: Nan Li -
June 01, 2009
Chinese Mine Warfare: A PLA Navy 'Assassin's Mace' Capability
By: Andrew S. Erickson, William S. Murray, Lyle J. Goldstein -
February 01, 2009
Scouting, Signaling, and Gatekeeping: Chinese Naval Operations in Japanese Waters and the International Law Implications
By: Peter A. Dutton -
August 01, 2008
A Comprehensive Survey of China's Dynamic Shipbuilding Industry
By: Gabriel Collins, Michael Grubb