HomeCASIArticles


      Welcome to the Department of the Air Force's China Aerospace Studies Institute   

CASI Banner

China Aerospace Studies Institute Article Search

China Aerospace Studies Institute Articles

  • Foundations of Competition with China

    CASI is proud to announce a new video series focused on Competition With China.  This new video series helps Airmen better understand the strategic competition with China broadly, and takes a deep look at many of the military and security aspects of that competition. CASI uses source documents to

  • ITOW: China's System: Face to Face

    This book closely focuses on studying, propagating, and implementing the spirit of the 4th Plenary Session of the Party’s 19th Central Committee and provides an in-depth explanation in simplified terms of major issues regarding upholding and improving the system of socialism with Chinese

  • China's Ballistic Missile Industry

    Along with space and cyber, the missile forces of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) People’s Liberation Army have seen the greatest increase in importance, and funding, over the last two decades. This progress was further emphasized when, as part of the 2015 reforms, the Second Artillery was

  • Second Combat Brigade of PRC Air Force Likely Receives Stealth Fighter

    Something unusual appeared in a recent satellite image of an airbase in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). In the image, a J-20 appears to be taxiing from the runway at Anshan Airport, a military-civilian, dual-use airport in northeastern China that is the home base of the 1st Aviation Brigade of

  • PLA Aerospace Primer 2nd edition in Turkish

    CASI is excited to announce the first translated version of one of its publications into Turkish.  Retired Turkish Air Force Colonel Dr. Yucel Topcu worked diligently to translate our second edition of the PLA Aerospace Primer.  We are grateful for his hard work and efforts, and pleased that he

  • 70 Years of the People's Liberation Army Air Force

    For those of you who have the privilege of knowing the great Ken Allen, this book will come as no surprise. For those of you who don’t know Ken personally, trust me when I say he has dedicated his life to the study of the People’s Liberation Army’s Air Force (PLAAF). In many cases, such a statement

  • How China Has Integrated Its Space Program Into Its Broader Foreign Policy

    The way that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is governed allows it to pursue a more holistic approach to policy. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) not only controls the government, but also has a presence in every major organization, including economic, technical, and academic entities.

  • Political Commissars of the People’s Liberation Army Air Force

    Knowing one’s counterparts, who they are, how they got there, and who their replacements might be, is important to both leadership and organizations alike. This report provides an overview of the political commissars of the PLA Air Force and is a companion to CASI’s report on the commanders of the

  • In Their Own Words: Stanford-New America DigiChina Project

    Not a CASI product, but of great use to the China research community, the Stanford-New America DigiChina Project is a collaborative effort to understand China’s digital policy developments, primarily through translating and analyzing Chinese-language sources. Focuses include data governance,

  • In their Own Words: 2019 China’s National Defense in the New Era

    In July 2019, the The State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China published its defense white paper titled "China's National Defense in the New Era".  The major contents include  views on the International Security Situation, China’s Defensive National Defense Policy in the

  • In their Own Words: Military-Civil Fusion Lexicon

    This paper is intended as a reference guide for the group of terms frequently used in Chinese official discourse to describe the practice of civil military integration and civil military relations in China.  Although military-civil fusion (MCF) was elevated to a national strategy under Xi Jinping,

  • ITOW: Report on the Work of the Government 2021

    Delivered at the Fourth Session of the 13th National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China on March 5, 2021Li Keqiang Li KeqiangPremier of the State Council Premier of the State CouncilClick here for the full report (in English)

  • PLA Army Air Defense Units Improve Effectiveness, Resiliency, and Jointness

    Between October and November 2020, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) published a series of news reports about the 80th Air Defense Brigade of the PLA Army (PLAA), news reports that featured improvements to the unit’s technology and modes of operation. Three of those improvements are of

  • China’s Ground Segment: Building the Pillars of a Great Space Power

    Space has long been important to national security.  Dating back decades, the “Space Race” was not just about the ideological competition between the communist Soviets and the free West, it had real world national security implications.  That is even more true today.  As technology has advanced and

  • ITOW: Report on the Cybersecurity Legislation of Major European Countries

    This is a report from Fudan University, Shanghai, China.  The report is from Oct 2020.  Please click here for the full report in EnglishAs important cyberspace actors, China and Europe are key to building a global governance system in cyberspace. China is the fastest-growing newcomer in cyberspace,

  • ITOW: The Clean Network

    This is a report from Fudan University from Sept of 2020.  Please click here for the full report  The first part of the report is in Mandarin, the English version starts on page 46.In June 2020, the United States State Department unveiled its Clean Network program, which consists of a series of

  • Initial Fighter Pilot Training in the PLA Air Force

    At the beginning of the 2010s, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force’s (PLAAF’s) program for the initial training of fighter pilots had three problems. First, the program was inordinately long and gradual. Second, the PLAAF lacked an advanced trainer aircraft that was suitable for

  • ITOW: China Coast Guard Law

    Click here for PDF: Coast Guard Law of the People's Republic of China(Announced at the 25th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress on January 22, 2021)Table of ContentsChapter One General PrinciplesChapter Two Institutions and ResponsibilitiesChapter Three Marine