China
Strategic Geography of Chinese Sea Power II
Taiwan: Central Link in the Chain While the policy community in the United States remains divided over the geostrategic importance of Taiwan, the notion that the island is imbued with strategic and military value is uncontroversial on the mainland. Indeed, the intersection of geography and strategy is central to many Chinese narratives about the first island chain and Taiwan’s place…
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CHINA DREAMS ON Part II
China’s aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, during military drills in the Pacific. Type 075 class of amphibious assault ship. Every yuan China devotes to projects of questionable worth in South and Central Asia is one less yuan Beijing has to spend on threatening implements of maritime and aerospace power for the…
German Advisors at Shanghai 1937
Seeckt served as a member of parliament from 1930 to 1932. From 1933 to 1935 he was repeatedly in China as a military consultant to Chiang Kai-shek in his war against the Chinese Communists and was directly responsible for devising the Encirclement Campaigns, that resulted in a string of victories…
Perspectives on Early Ming Military History I
In recent years, scholars have developed a new appreciation for Ming warfare. The early Ming state was, they have shown, the world’s most powerful gunpowder empire, possessing gun-bearing infantry that were more numerous and effective than those of any other state in the world. Nor did the Ming lose its…
Perspectives on Early Ming Military History II
Ming artillerymen. How many gunners did Yongle send to Đại Việt? There are no detailed records, but we can make an estimate, based on the fact that a decree of Hongwu stipulated that ten percent of Ming infantry units be gun units. Given that the Ming invasion force numbered 215,000,…
FLEET TACTICS WITH CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS I
Type 001A aircraft carrier Having reviewed more intangible aspects of Chinese maritime strategy such as geopolitics, historical precedent, and strategic thought, we now turn to more prosaic matters. How will China put its strategy into practice using the implements it has assembled through fleet building? China’s navy is maturing and…
FLEET TACTICS WITH CHINESE CHARACTERISTICS II
Chinese Type 039A (Yuan-class) SS Tactical Scenarios: Near Shore and on the High Seas Hughes considers two very broad categories of wartime contingencies: (1) U.S. forces might close in on the coast of an adversary that boasts considerable land-based defenses but lacks a fleet able to stand against the U.S.…