RESEARCH: Security and Foreign Affairs REPORTS
First Modern Tanker Observed at Chinese Airbase
This report examines the context and implications of satellite imagery of an IL-78/MIDAS air refueling tanker at a Chinese military airbase.
11/18/2014
China’s Airspace Management Challenge
As the number of civil aviation users increases and the aviation industry continues to mature in China, Beijing seeks to strike a balance between liberalizing its airspace to respond to growing commercial demands and retaining a strict military hold on airspace for the purpose of national security. This report explores China's efforts to reform air traffic control and airspace management, as well as challenges China may face as it seeks further reform.
11/12/2014
Trends in U.S.-China Science and Technology Cooperation: Collaborative Knowledge Production for the Twenty-First Century?
This report examines 35 years of cooperation between the United States and China in the areas of science and technology (S&T) since the signing of the 1979 U.S.-China Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement.
09/11/2014
Prison Labor Exports from China and Implications for U.S. Policy
Since the Commission’s examination in 2008 of prison labor issues in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), there has been little substantive reduction in the scale and scope of China’s broad network of prison labor facilities. These facilities, led by local officials, continue to produce goods intended for export on a potentially large scale, in violation of U.S.-China agreements on the exports of prison labor goods to the United States. Although U.S. representatives in Beijing have continued to engage with their Chinese counterparts regarding suspected prison manufacturing facilities, the pattern of long delays and minimal cooperation by officials in the PRC Ministry of Prisons persists. Further, it is unclear whether the recent abolition of “reeducation through labor” (RTL) and reported release of up to tens of thousands of prisoners will have a significant impact on the prison labor system and export of prison labor products.
07/11/2014
China’s Reported Ballistic Missile Sale to Saudi Arabia: Background and Potential Implications
06/16/2014
China’s Expanding and Evolving Engagement with the Caribbean
China’s economic, diplomatic, and security relations with Caribbean countries are growing under Chinese President Xi Jinping, who appears to have elevated the region on Beijing’s foreign policy agenda. Economic opportunities and diplomatic concerns – namely competition with Taiwan for diplomatic recognition – drive Beijing’s involvement in the region. There are many opportunities for the United States to benefit from China’s economic engagement in the Caribbean. However, among Caribbean countries, the narrative that the United States has neglected the region while China has embraced it is pervasive. While this message is misleading (current U.S. trade and diplomatic ties with the region are more robust than those of China), its persistence could limit the effectiveness of U.S. policy in the Caribbean.
05/16/2014
China and International Law in Cyberspace
Despite major differences on cyberspace policy between the United States and China, a recent development at the United Nations illustrates basic areas of agreement. The United States and China were among 15 countries affirming the applicability of international law to cyberspace in a 2013 UN report. The same group will gather in 2014 to address some of the more challenging and divisive concepts regarding state responsibility and use of force in cyberspace. Any fractures in the debate at this meeting will likely reflect some of the major differences between the United States and China on cyberspace policy.
05/07/2014
Red Cloud Rising: Cloud Computing in China (Revised)
Revised March 22, 2014.
After the publication of this report on September 5, 2013, Microsoft brought to the authors’ attention new information about its partnership with Chinese company 21Vianet. The original version of the report inaccurately characterized certain aspects of the Microsoft-21Vianet partnership. A revised discussion of this partnership is provided on pages 32-34. The authors would like to thank Microsoft for their assistance in clarifying the details of 21Vianet’s Windows Azure service.
03/22/2014
China’s Navy Extends its Combat Reach to the Indian Ocean
In early 2014, a Chinese surface action group carried out a sophisticated training exercise spanning the South China Sea (SCS), eastern Indian Ocean, and Philippine Sea. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy used the 23-day deployment to improve operational proficiencies for antisubmarine warfare, air defense, electronic warfare, and expeditionary logistics; train to seize disputed islands and reefs in the SCS; enhance its ability to conduct integrated and multi-disciplinary operations; and demonstrate to the Indo-Pacific region that China’s combat reach now extends to the eastern Indian Ocean.
03/14/2014
