Recent Publications - Category China Landpower Studies Center

Decoding China’s 15th Five-Year Plan
May 15, 2026 — China’s latest Five-Year Plan signals that it has become more pessimistic about the global environment, seeing it as uncertain and unstable. However, the Chinese Communist Party sees opportunity in that instability to promote the Community of Common Destiny, their new model of global governance. The Five-Year Plan also signals that the Chinese will continue to use the United Nations to advance this new global governance system... MORE

Slide for Decoding China’s 15th Five-Year Plan by COL Kyle Marcrum, published by the Foreign Policy Research Institute

Taiwan’s Special Defense Budget and KMT Trip to Beijing, Part 2
May 14, 2026 — In part two of this two-part episode, COL Kyle Marcrum and Dr. Jessica Liao discuss Taiwan President Lai’s special defense budget and the Kuomingdang Chair, Cheng Li-wun, visit to Beijing... MORE

CLSC Dialogues podcast: Taiwan’s Special Defense Budget and KMT Trip to Beijing, Part 2, COL Kyle Marcrum and Dr. Jessica Liao

Taiwan’s Special Defense Budget and KMT Trip to Beijing, Part 1
May 13, 2026 — In part one of this two-part episode, COL Kyle Marcrum and Dr. Jessica Liao discuss Taiwan President Lai’s special defense budget and why it is stalled in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan... MORE

CLSC Dialogues podcast: Taiwan’s Special Defense Budget and KMT Trip to Beijing, Part 1, COL Kyle Marcrum and Dr Jessica Liao

Sustaining the Vanguard: PRC Subsistence Modernization and the Calculus of PLA Endurance
May 11, 2026 — Ali Ayoub... MORE

CLSC Quick Take: Sustaining the Vanguard: PRC Subsistence Modernization and the Calculus of PLA Endurance by Ali Ayoub

China Maritime Report #53: Filling the Ranks: China's Military Recruiting System and the PLA Navy
May 6, 2026 — This report outlines People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) recruiting processes within the overarching context of China’s military personnel accession systems. Within China, most recruitment, mobilization, and service assignment of military personnel is managed through a centralized national military service system, with individual services retaining some recruitment authorities for officers, sergeants, and civilians. It is not possible to effectively discuss Navy recruitment without understanding this overarching system. ... MORE

Slide for China Maritime Report #53: Filling the Ranks: China's Military Recruiting System and the PLA Navy by Erin Richter and Joshua Arostegui

On the Pacific, USARPAC, and China
April 28, 2026 — In this episode, COL Mike Long and LTG Joel B. Vowell discuss the US Army Pacific and the role of USARPAC... MORE

CLSC Dialogues podcast: On the Pacific, USARPAC, and China, COL Mike Long and LTG Joel B. Vowell

2026 Carlisle Conference on the PLA: The PLA’s Capability to React to Crises
April 16, 2026 — The US Army War College (USAWC) Strategic Studies Institute’s (SSI) held its annual Carlisle Conference on the PLA on March 25 and 26, 2026, in the Army Heritage and Education Center at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. The China Landpower Studies Center (CLSC) successfully hosted the event for the second time, bringing together more than 100 war fighters, policymakers, and China-focused experts to analyze and debate the PRC’s capabilities to react to regional and strategic-level crises. Participants from the US Department of War and Intelligence Community joined professionals from academia, think tanks, private industry, and other US government organizations to listen and respond to a series of expert panels and discuss panelist findings and other topics of interest in impactful breakout discussions... MORE

PLA Army Places Growing Emphasis on Tactical Indirect Firepower with New Grenade Discharger
April 13, 2026 — Joaquin Camarena... MORE

Slide for the CLSC Quick Take PLA Army Places Growing Emphasis on Tactical Indirect Firepower with New Grenade Discharger by Joaquin Camarena

Achieving Victory Through Quantity: PLA Theorists Propose Different Modernization and War-Fighting Pattern
March 30, 2026 — Kevin McCauley... MORE

Slide for Achieving Victory Through Quantity: PLA Theorists Propose Different Modernization and War-Fighting Pattern

New Tanks Mark PLA Army’s Integration of System Warfare at the Tactical Level
March 23, 2026 — Joaquin Camarena... MORE

Slide for the CLSC Quick Take, New Tanks Mark PLA Army’s Integration of System Warfare at the Tactical Level

The New Reserve Personnel ID Card: How the PLA is Streamlining Mobilization and Improving the Status of Military Reservists in Chinese Society
March 16, 2026 — Joshua Arostegui... MORE

Slide for CLSC Quick Take, The New Reserve Personnel ID Card: How the PLA is Streamlining Mobilization and Improving the Status of Military Reservists in Chinese Society

Securing the Rice Bowl: PRC Agricultural Hardening as a Strategic Maneuver Multiplier
February 17, 2026 — Ali Ayoub... MORE

Slide for Securing the Rice Bowl: PRC Agricultural Hardening as a Strategic Maneuver Multiplier