Over the last decade or more, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has sought to establish an effective defense high-tech innovation system. The Science and Technology Committee (STC) under the General Armaments Department (GAD) has been a leading institution in this reform...

This brief examines the issue of transparency during and after the period of political dominance by the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP) which ruled with only a brief nine-month interruption from 1955–2009. It highlights two related but analytically separate dimensions...

After more than a decade of diplomacy designed to reassure the United States and Asian neighbors that it wasn’t a threat, Chinese foreign policy has turned more confrontational. The Chinese government and Communist Party make decisions by consensus, which theoretically should...

China’s recent assertiveness in the South China Seas is a harbinger of things to come. Beijing’s seapower project and the enormous resources it has enjoyed have opened up new strategic vistas for Chinese leaders and military commanders. With larger and more capable...

China is developing a defense innovation system (DIS) as part of a broader effort to construct a national innovation system (NIS) that incorporates a system-of-systems approach. Modeled on China’s commercial-sector economic development zones and investment strategies, the DIS...

Contrary to popular perceptions of China as either “technology thief†or “technology superpower,†the success of the Chinese defense electronics sector can be attributed to a combination of indigenous innovation, adaptation of foreign technology, and large-scale technology...

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is improving its ability to research, develop, and field innovative military capabilities and advanced weapon systems. Perhaps more than other sectors of its defense industrial complex, the Chinese space and missile industry is the most...

This policy brief examines how innovation takes place within the Chinese defense research, development, and acquisition (RDA) system. This begins with a short review of the evolving frameworks of analysis of technological innovation in industrial systems, with prominence given to the...

The National Defense Program Guidelines (NDPG) is the primary document of Japan’s defense policy, setting both guidelines for defense force planning and outlining the basic principles and policies of Japan’s national security strategy. The most recent NDPG, completed...

Within China’s overall national strategy, priority goes to national economic development. How this fits with the PLA’s needs to modernize and China’s overall military strategy is driven by the concept of People’s War that emphasizes strategy over technology and may...