"Study No. 8, Chinese Amphibious Warfare: Prospects for a Cross-Strait Invasion" - by CWP alum Andrew Erickson

In August 2022, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) encircled and overshot Taiwan with a battery of military exercises. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted live-fire drills, air sorties, naval deployments, and ballistic-missile launches in six zones encompassing the busiest international sea-lanes and air corridors surrounding Taiwan. Subsequent PLA activities suggest an effort to impose heightened, more-comprehensive pressure on Taiwan moving forward. This is merely the latest in the continuing series of PRC military threats and provocations that have increased over the past several years. These have included continued fortification of atolls and islands in the South China Sea, almost nonstop PLA Air Force incursions into Taiwan’s air-defense identification zone, and continued challenges to U.S. Navy vessels operating in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait. Beijing’s provocations will continue for the foreseeable future as PRC president, general secretary, and commander in chief Xi Jinping continues to send the clear message to Taiwan, the United States, and its allies that China has both the ability and the willingness to use an increasingly capable and technologically advanced PLA to unify Taiwan with the mainland by force. Make no mistake, this is not a PRC bluff—the threat to Taiwan is real and grave

Study No. 8, Chinese Amphibious W Study No. 8, Chinese Amphibious Warfare: Prospects for a Cross Strait Invasion Andrew S. Erickson Conor M. Kennedy Ryan D. Martinson

https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=cmsi-studies

Dr. Andrew S. Erickson (艾立信) is Professor of Strategy (tenured full professor) in NWC’s China Maritime Studies Institute. A core founding member, he helped establish CMSI and stand it up officially in 2006 and has played an integral role in its development; from 2021–23 he served as Research Director. CMSI inspired the creation of other research centers, which he has advised and supported; he is a China Aerospace Studies Institute Associate. Since 2008 he has been an Associate in Research at Harvard’s Fairbank Center. Erickson has taught courses at NWC and Yonsei University, advises NWC student research and curricula and supports NWC’s scholarly research relations with Japanese counterparts.

Photo Credit: https://digital-commons.usnwc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1010&context=cmsi-notes