DoD Releases Annual Report on Chinese Military and Security Developments

Every year the DoD releases their Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PDF), and most years (like this one) it is released very late. There are some interesting quotes in this years report, and I'll start what will likely be a very long series of posts on the topic with this one on page 56. I believe this quote gives guidance towards what to expect in the near future.

The pace and scope of China’s military development, combined with a relative lack of transparency, remains a point of concern in the United States and among our regional allies and partners. In recent years China has demonstrated occasional signs of assertiveness in Asia, particularly in the maritime domain. This trend has contributed to friction between China and some of its neighbors over disputed maritime territory in the East and South China Seas.

Additionally, the United States and China continue to hold differing views over the rights of coastal states in the waters and airspace beyond their territorial seas. In 2010 several PLA fighter aircraft conducted unusually close intercepts of U.S. military aircraft operating in international airspace. In recent years Chinese ships have also harassed U.S. military survey vessels operating beyond China’s territorial seas.

As Rory Medcalf of the Lowy Institute has already suggested (on Twitter), this portion of the report suggests another EP-3 incident off China is possible, probably sooner than later.

Something else interesting to read related to China... this AEI article from the other day offers a lot of interesting analysis worth thinking about.