Cooperation, Coexistence, and Contestation in India’s and China’s Overlapping Strategic Spaces
By dint of their geographies, partnerships, development imperatives, and broader objectives, China and India have had overlapping strategic spaces since India became independent in 1947 and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) came into being in 1949. As their interests and capabilities—and thus reach—have grown, the theater of their strategic interaction has expanded to encompass […]
National Insecurity: Frontier Governance and Ethnic Policy in Contemporary China
We hear a lot today about China’s border conflicts, from high-altitude skirmishes with Indian forces in the Himalayas to legal tussles over maritime sovereignty in the South China Sea. But the People’s Republic of China (PRC) does not just have a border problem. It also has a borderlands problem, or what in official Chinese rhetoric […]
Geography Matters, Time Collides: Mapping China’s Maritime Strategic Space under Xi
With an increasingly powerful People’s Republic of China (PRC) under paramount leader Xi Jinping engaging in meteoric military-maritime buildup and pressing disputed sovereignty claims with increasing assertiveness, it is more important than ever to consider Beijing’s “mental map”: how its leaders regard the physical nature of strategic space. As Andrew Rhodes argues cogently, “Being able […]
Chinese Perspectives on the “Indo-Pacific” as a Geostrategic Construct
The geopolitical significance of the Pacific and Indian Oceans has been a prominent issue in the Chinese political and diplomatic discourse. In 2013, Xi Jinping called on leaders at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders’ Meeting to “firmly move toward the goal of constructing a common destiny of the Asia-Pacific,” a vision he has […]
A Domain of Great Powers: The Strategic Role of Space in Achieving China’s Dream of National Rejuvenation
China’s strategic conception of and engagement with outer space has evolved over time depending on each major leader’s personal ambition for the country as well as the international environment they faced. Under Mao Zedong, China’s strategic interest in the space sector was for military development and technological prestige. During Deng Xiaoping’s reign, the country’s space […]
The Evolution of China’s Naval Strategy
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has significantly modernized and expanded its naval capabilities, reshaping the maritime balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region. To shed light on the evolution and implications of the PRC’s naval strategy, Nai-Yu Chen and Jeremy Rausch interviewed Bernard D. Cole about the driving forces behind the transformation of the […]
China’s Strategic Space in the Digital Undersea
The digital architecture of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is an expanding strategic space. As both an imagined and physical space, the Digital Silk Road will create opportunities and risks for national security, data, and privacy globally. Concurrent with the Digital Silk Road, the PRC is expanding its presence in the maritime and undersea […]
Energy as a Strategic Space for China: Words and Actions Point to a Competitive Future
“Energy security” is broadly defined in the literature as meaning the reliable and affordable supply of energy, but discussions are often decidedly oil-centric. Indeed, both academic and policymaker attention to energy security as contemporarily defined only began to rise after market turbulence in the late 1960s and then the 1973 oil embargo ended a nearly […]
The Polar Regions as New Strategic Frontiers for China
Over the last two decades, China has significantly expanded its polar agenda and activities. It is a long-term strategic priority for China to establish itself as a legitimate and influential polar stakeholder with a permanent presence and access to conduct various activities in the Arctic and Antarctic. In Chinese strategic considerations and plans, the polar […]
China’s Geopolitical Code: Shaping the Next World Order
Since Xi Jinping became the general-secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the practices and logics of Chinese foreign policy have changed enormously. China’s ambitions are mostly global today and no longer limited to dominating only one region (such as the Asia-Pacific or Central Asia) or specific policy fields (such as technology or trade). Under […]