By Nia Kaul
As China’s expanding naval power and increasingly assertive maritime activities challenge U.S. interests across the Indo-Pacific, the U.S. Naval War College’s China Maritime Studies Institute is marking 20 years of research that has helped shape American understanding of Beijing’s maritime strategy.
Established in 2006 as the Defense Department’s first service-specific China research center, the Institute has become an important source of analysis for U.S. military planners and policymakers confronting China’s growing maritime influence.
Its research extends beyond China’s naval modernization to examine the country’s broader maritime ambitions, including military strategy, maritime law enforcement and the expanding role of Chinese forces in contested regional waters.
Working closely with the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, the Office of Naval Intelligence and operational Navy commands, the Institute provides research intended to inform U.S. naval strategy and decision-making.
The CMSI began with modest resources but quickly established itself as a center for research on China’s growing maritime power.
Recalling the Institute’s early days, co-founder Dr. Andrew Erickson described working through the night to sort photocopied Chinese-language articles into research categories.
By 2008, just two years after its founding at the U.S. Naval War College, CMSI had organized four major conferences, including one examining China’s future nuclear submarine force.
Its research has since gained wider recognition. A 2024 study, Chinese Amphibious Warfare: Prospects for a Cross-Strait Invasion, was named the Samuel B. Griffith Foundation’s 2025 Publication of the Year and selected for the Marine Corps commandant’s professional reading lists in 2025 and 2026, underscoring the Institute’s growing influence on U.S. military thinking about China and Taiwan.
Through the utilization of an open-source research methodology, including Chinese-language official documents, journals and reports, to study the People’s Republic of China’s military maritime development, the CMSI highlights that it is able to provide a more in-depth understanding of China’s maritime activities. The CMSI publishes a range of products that include the Quarterly Review, CMSI Studies in China Maritime, China Maritime Studies Red Books, CMSI China Maritime Reports, CMSI Notes and CMSI Translations. In addition, the Institute hosts regular conferences, with past topics covering China’s Near Seas Operations (2011), China’s Far Seas Operations (2012), China’s Naval Shipbuilding (2015) and China’s Undersea Warfare (2023).
During a panel discussion that took place to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the CMSI, Captain Christopher Sharman, director of the CMSI, noted that the Institute is able to deliver “cutting-edge” research that overcomes language and access barriers.
In an exclusive comment for the South China Sea NewsWire, Sharman and Erickson reflected on the key milestones the CMSI has accomplished, and looked ahead to the future implications of China’s maritime activities. Both researchers spoke in their personal capacities, not on behalf of the Institute. Sharman and Erickson highlighted that what has changed most in the understanding of Chinese maritime activities is the “geographic scope of China’s maritime ambitions.” They emphasized “China’s maritime interests are global,” and that U.S. policymakers are looking too narrowly at isolated case studies — namely, at the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. Their comments emphasized looking at the much wider naval strategy of China that has been in place since 2015: ‘Near Seas Defense, Far Seas Protection.’
Importantly, Sharman and Erickson’s observations also revealed that it won’t be all smooth sailing going forward, and that there are key factors that must not be overlooked by U.S. policymakers. “We need to examine China’s military maritime activities holistically,” they said. “The challenge for U.S. policymakers is to look beyond the immediate crisis in the South China Sea or around Taiwan.” A nearsighted approach risks policymaking that does not address China’s wider maritime activities. Sharman and Erickson also emphasized that China’s navy should not be analyzed in isolation. The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), China Coast Guard, maritime militia, as well as the scientific and commercial maritime sector all work towards “different but complementary purposes,” they said.
Admiral Gary Roughead, former U.S. Navy officer and the 29th Chief of Naval Operations, offered his perspective of the evolution of the CMSI in a keynote speech during the CMSI’s 20th anniversary commemoration. He noted that the creation of the CMSI and his return to the Pacific Command “were almost concurrent.” “The timing of CMSI’s founding could not have been better,” as the People’s Liberation Army was also demonstrating rapid transformation and development.
Roughead’s keynote mirrored the sentiment of Sharman and Erickson. He noted that the CMSI is a unique organization in terms of how it engages actors and conducts its research. The CMSI is able to offer “deeper insight” through fostering collaboration between China “linguists and practitioners.” Roughead commented that the CMSI’s research beyond naval affairs “sets it apart” from other institutions. He noted that it is essential to monitor China’s “global merchant fleet,” “shipbuilding industry” and “global ports.”
Roughead echoed that challenges lie ahead for the U.S. Navy and administration, as today’s leaders are “leading a Navy engaged in the most intense naval conflict since World War II.” Citing what he referred to as the “Mega-region,” he underscored that the CMSI must continue to monitor the “vast area from the Eastern Mediterranean to East Asia, particularly the great Indian Ocean.” Referring to technology, Roughead noted that U.S. policymakers must be cautious of the role of artificial intelligence enhancing China’s military maritime operations.
Former director of the CMSI Dr. Peter Dutton similarly stated that agility, and being able to efficiently adapt to new challenges, is paramount.
To address China’s growing maritime ambitions and challenges that lie ahead, the CMSI has concrete plans in store. Its upcoming conference in 2027 will discuss the theme Military-Civil Fusion at Sea: China’s Integrated Advantage?
Going forward, Sharman and Erickson emphasized the importance of maintaining a holistic and forward-looking approach to researching China’s maritime operations. They noted that China is likely to have more of a “persistent oceanic presence,” as well as “an expansion of activity in both polar regions.” “We need to understand not only what China’s maritime forces can do today, but also what its investments and activities are preparing them to do tomorrow,” Sharman said.
Nia Kaul is a Research Associate at the South China Sea NewsWire. She is based in London, and completed her Bachelor of Arts in International Relations at King’s College London. Her research expertise lies in East Asia and the Indo-Pacific region.
