China’s Military Modernization

Implications for Regional Security

China’s military modernization has shifted the balance of power in the Asia-Pacific security domain. The nature of the challenge is multifaceted and complex: U.S. allies and partners are concerned over China’s assertiveness and growing military strength, but many also have extensive economic, cultural, and historical links to Beijing.

In part due to domestic political constraints and the deep degree of economic interdependence between Asian nations and China, regional actors have adopted a wide spectrum of distinct strategies and approaches when deciding how to respond to China’s growing ambitions and assertiveness across the region.

To better understand the impact of China’s improving warfighting, deterrent, and coercive capabilities on regional Asia-Pacific security this project, supported by the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Strategic Trends Research Initiative, will commission a series of briefing papers and convene a strategic dialogue (non-official, Track 1.5) with experts and officials from Australia, Japan, India, Vietnam, Taiwan, and the Philippines. In doing so, the project will seek to identify the benefits of deeper, more meaningful U.S. relationships with existing allies and partners and to better understand the implications of China’s emerging capabilities for the United States’ ability to achieve operational advantage and project power.

Project Team

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Bates Gill, Senior Fellow in Asian Security, The National Bureau of Asian Research

REGIONAL EXPERTS

Francis C. Domingo, Associate Professor of International Studies, De La Salle University

Paul Huang, Nonresident Fellow, Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation

Peter Jennings, Senior Fellow, Australian Strategic Policy Institute

Yuka Koshino, Research Fellow, International Institute for Strategic Studies

Herman Joseph S. Kraft, Professor of Political Science, University of the Philippines Diliman

Lavina Lee, Senior Lecturer, Macquarie University

Wakana Mukai, Associate Professor, Asia University

Hồng Thao Nguyễn, Professor of International Law, Vietnam National University

Nguyen The Phuong, Lecturer, Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics and Finance

Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, Head of Nuclear and Space Policy Initiative, Observer Research Foundation

Jyh-Shyang Sheu, Assistant Research Fellow, Institute for National Defense and Security Research

Michael Shoebridge, Director of Defense, Strategy and National Security Program, Australian Strategic Policy Institute

Yisuo Tzeng, Assistant Research Fellow, Institute for National Defense and Security Research

Khang X. Vu, PhD Candidate, Boston College

Andrea Chloe Wong, Nonresident WSD Handa Fellow, Pacific Forum