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  • TFTC: Borscht vs Jiaozi

    Thoughts from the Chairman.......Although China and Russia certainly have overlapping geostrategic interests, and have proclaimed that they have a friendship without limits, these are not the same countries, and these are not the same political systems.  Each leader has his own unique style and each

  • ITOW: Lectures from Course Book on the Taiwan Strait's Military Geography

    Translations from Chinese source documentsThe “In Their Own Words” series is dedicated to translations of Chinese documents in order to help non-Mandarin speaking audiences access and understand Chinese thinking. CASI would like to thank all of those involved in this effort. In the “In Their Own

  • Aerial Refueling Added to Flight Academies’ Transition Training Curriculum

    In August 2025 the television news program National Defense and Military Affairs at Noon, which is produced by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), broadcast a segment showing flight instructors at the PLA Air Force’s (PLAAF) Xi’an Flight Academy undergoing training in aerial refueling.  This

  • Remote Basing: People’s Liberation Army Logistics on the Tibetan Plateau

    The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is at the forefront of China’s efforts to defend its extensive land border with India and maintain firm control over Tibet. As both China and India have expanded their respective infrastructural and military basing networks along the Line of Actual Control (the

  • China's Defense S&T Key Lab System - 2025 Update

        This report represents an updated and significantly expanded revision of The PRC State & Defense Laboratory System Part Two: Defense S&T Key Lab Directory, which was released in early 2023. That report was in turn the second part of The PRC State & Defense Laboratory System: An Overview,  which

  • TFTC: Friendlies before the World Cup

    China has spent the last thirty years laser focused on modernizing the military, with one goal in mind, to catch up to the United States and its allies and partners.  However, the armed wing of the Communist Party, the People’s Liberation Army, hasn’t fought a war since the 1979/1980s border war

  • The Evolution of China’s Nuclear Forces

    In recent years, China has embarked on the most significant transformation of its nuclear forces in its history. U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) projections indicate the People’s Republic of China (PRC) could field over 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030.[i] The scope and speed of this buildup have

  • Thoughts from the Chairman

    Thoughts from the ChairmanSeries IntroductionIntroductionThe “Thoughts from the Chairman” series is intended to be thought provoking and encourage discussions, but is in no way meant to be authoritative.  In some cases, the “Thoughts” will be complete works of fiction, though based on years of

  • ITOW: China's National Security in the New Era (2025)

    May 12th, 2025 China released its white paper on "China's National Security in the New Era". This is the translation of that document.The “In Their Own Words” series is dedicated to translations of Chinese documents in order to help non-Mandarin speaking audiences access and understand Chinese

  • Beijing’s Response to REFORPAC Projects Calm Confidence

    The U.S. Air Force (USAF) conducted Resolute Force Pacific (REFORPAC) 2025 across the Indo-Pacific theater from July 8 to August 8, 2025. Beijing’s response to the exercise was muted, as it was to what had been the largest exercise in the region, Mobility Guardian 2023. Beijing’s response to

  • PRC Media Responses to Pakistani J-10's Combat Success

    On 9 May 2025, a Reuters report claimed that at least one Indian Air Force Rafale combat aircraft was shot down by a Pakistani pilot flying an export variant of the Chinese J-10 fighter.1 The defeat of a leading Western combat aircraft by a People’s Republic of China (PRC) indigenously-produced

  • CASI Toolkit for China- PLA Personnel presentation

    The CASI Commander's Toolkit for China is a series of articles with accompanying pre-made presentations to help Airmen, Guardians, and all members of the DOD, USG, American Public, and Allies and Partners writ large, better understand the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) People's Liberation Army

  • CASI Toolkit for China- PLA Personnel article

    The CASI Commander's Toolkit for China is a series of articles with accompanying pre-made presentations to help Airmen, Guardians, and all members of the DOD, USG, American Public, and Allies and Partners writ large, better understand the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) People's Liberation Army

  • A Look at the J-20 AESA Radar

    There is a contrasting or somewhat paradoxical component to available information about the People’s Liberation Army Air Force J-20 Mighty Dragon’s performance parameters, because while much can be observed and learned regarding the aircraft’s external configuration and domestically built WS-15

  • CASI Commander's Toolkit for China- PLA Army presentation

    The CASI Commander's Toolkit for China is a series of articles with accompanying pre-made presentations to help Airmen, Guardians, and all members of the DOD, USG, American Public, and Allies and Partners writ large, better understand the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) People's Liberation Army

  • CASI Toolkit for China- PLA Army article

    The CASI Commander's Toolkit for China is a series of articles with accompanying pre-made presentations to help Airmen, Guardians, and all members of the DOD, USG, American Public, and Allies and Partners writ large, better understand the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) People's Liberation Army

  • The Truth about the Sino-Russian Combined Patrols

    This article was published as part of the cooperation between CASI and the Japanese Air Self Defense Force's  Air and Space Studies Institute (JASI)The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has conducted nine “combined strategic aerial patrols” with the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS)