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RAND's China experts have examined a wide range of issues, including the country's military, political, and trade relations, especially with Taiwan and Japan; its environmental, economic, and health policies and prospects; and its international business and intellectual property (copyright) challenges.

  • An ethnic Uyghur boy stands at the door of his home as Chinese security forces secure the area in Urumqi, China, July 10, 2009, photo by Nir Elias/Reuters

    Essay

    China's Disappeared Uyghurs: What Satellite Images Reveal

    Apr 29, 2021

    At least one million Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities have vanished into a sprawling network of camps and prisons in China's far west. Satellite images show brightly lit compounds, wall after wall of barbed wire, and a sudden rush to build what appear to be fortified preschools.

  • PLA Qiandaohu, a Chinese navy ship, steams in close formation as one of 42 ships and submarines from 15 international partner nations during Rim of the Pacific 2014, photo by Shannon E. Renfroe/U.S. Navy

    Report

    Command and Control in U.S. Naval Competition with China

    Dec 17, 2020

    The navies of the United States and China will likely face challenges as they shift to new missions unless they adapt their existing concepts of command and control. Their willingness to adapt could prove to be decisive in maritime rivalry, and perhaps in the overall balance of strategic competition between the two nations.

Explore China

  • A U.S. pilot (right) gives a thumbs up to a Japanese pilot (left)

    Report

    Regional Responses to U.S.-China Competition in the Indo-Pacific: Japan

    This report assesses the prospects for deepening U.S.-Japan cooperation and coordination in Southeast Asia through 2030 to compete with China and identifies Japan's interests, initiatives, and areas of strength in the region.

    Nov 12, 2020

  • A U.S. sailor demonstrates patching a pipe leak during a damage control exchange during naval exchange activity Vietnam.

    Report

    Regional Responses to U.S.-China Competition in the Indo-Pacific: Vietnam

    This report explores Vietnam's perspective on rising U.S.-China competition by evaluating how Vietnam is responding to U.S. and Chinese influence in diplomatic and political, economic, and security and military domains.

    Nov 12, 2020

  • The 1st Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, color guard marches off Tower Barracks parade field after a battalion reenlistment ceremony at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, Dec. 28, 2018, photo by Sgt. Jamar Marcel Pugh/U.S. Army National Guard

    Brochure

    RAND Arroyo Center Annual Report 2020

    This Annual Report illustrates the depth, breadth, and responsiveness of the studies that RAND Arroyo Center conducted for the Army in fiscal year 2020.

    Nov 10, 2020

  • Blog

    'Internet of Bodies,' COVID-19 as a Preexisting Condition, Preventive Health Care: RAND Weekly Recap

    This weekly recap focuses on the potential risks and benefits of the 'Internet of Bodies,' what might happen if the ACA is struck down and COVID-19 is considered a preexisting condition, a drop in the use of preventive care, and more.

    Nov 6, 2020

  • U.S. and China flags crossed on a table, photo by studiocasper/Getty Images

    Commentary

    U.S. Election Won't Dramatically Change the Indo-Pacific Strategy

    No matter who wins the U.S. presidential election, the outcome is unlikely to impact the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy in any significant way. Bipartisan agreement in Washington to counter and compete with China makes clear that the United States will continue to push back against Beijing.

    Nov 2, 2020

  • Laos Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith (L) and Chinese counterpart Wang Yi following a meeting in Beijing, China, August 3, 2016, photo by Rolex Dela Pena/Pool/Reuters

    Commentary

    Vietnam Is Losing Its Best Friends to China

    The wide range of Chinese activities with Cambodia and Laos must be jarring for Vietnamese leaders. China has eclipsed Vietnam in Indochina, and that means that Hanoi's angst will only continue to rise in its own backyard. Vietnam will likely have to find alternative means of engaging Cambodia and Laos to combat Chinese influence in this critical region in the years to come.

    Nov 2, 2020

  • Blog

    Truth Decay, Opioid Settlement Funds, Veterans Health Care: RAND Weekly Recap

    This weekly recap focuses on fighting back against Truth Decay, how to spend opioid settlement funds, China's lack of friends, and more.

    Oct 23, 2020

  • Female hand touching screen of the phone surrounded with social media notification icons, photo by nikolas_stock/AdobeStock

    Journal Article

    Social Media and Influence Operations Technologies: Implications for Great Power Competition

    Russia, China, and the so-called Islamic State are three key U.S. adversaries that have exploited online technologies for propaganda. This chapter reviews the aims, capabilities, and limitations of online propaganda for each of these entities.

    Oct 23, 2020

  • Photo by Ron Przysucha/U.S. Government Photo

    Commentary

    PIF Fragmentation May Alter U.S.-China Competition in the Pacific

    The Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) may be on the verge of fragmentation, and if it happens, the consequences for U.S.-China geostrategic competition could be significant. A divided PIF would likely present several opportunities and challenges for China and the United States as their competition ramps up in Oceania.

    Oct 14, 2020

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping walk during their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, June 5, 2019, photo by Maxim Shipenkov/Pool/Reuters

    Commentary

    China's Friends Are Few and Unreliable

    Amid escalating competition, China and the United States are actively shoring up their diplomatic relationships in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. Compared to the United States, China's friends are certainly not as numerous, nor are they as reliable. That is a major challenge for Beijing.

    Oct 12, 2020

  • U.S. and Canadian personnel using a virtual training platform in Fort Meade, MD, June, 2020, photo by U.S. Navy Chief Mass Communication Specialist Jon Dasbach/U.S. Cyber Command

    Commentary

    The United States Can Achieve AI Dominance with Its Allies

    Close collaborators in any AI alliance must be able to usefully contribute to the work and be trustworthy enough to share in cutting-edge technical advancements. While achieving this close collaboration with allies may be difficult, it will be essential if the United States hopes to achieve the data dominance needed to succeed in future combat.

    Oct 9, 2020

  • Chinese soldiers using desktop computers at a garrison of the PLA in Chongqing, China, November 14, 2013, photo by Gao Xiaowen/Reuters

    Report

    China's Evolving Military Strategy and Doctrine

    The People's Liberation Army has made impressive modernization progress over the past three decades, but it is unclear how its efforts will translate to battlefield performance. Chinese military theory, strategy, and operational concepts are key to understanding how the PLA might fight when needed.

    Sep 29, 2020

  • The Kuomintang party headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan, August 9, 2004, Photo by Alan Chan / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

    Commentary

    Taiwan’s KMT May Have a Serious '1992 Consensus' Problem

    The 1992 Consensus is an agreement between the Kuomintang opposition party in Taiwan and mainland Chinese authorities on the existence of only “One China.” Maintaining the 1992 Consensus as the cornerstone of the Kuomintang's platform has not helped the party's cause, and more importantly, has probably done the opposite.

    Sep 25, 2020

  • U.S. Navy vessels in the Philippine Sea, November, 2018, photo by MC2 Kaila V. Peters/U.S. Navy

    Commentary

    Ambiguity Has Its Uses

    As China's thirst to resolve the Taiwan issue intensifies, the United States' halfhearted commitment to the island will become increasingly perilous: too weak to deter Chinese aggression but strong enough to drag the United States into a war. No U.S. approach to Taiwan will offer a perfect guarantee of peace. But the United States has many options short of the provocative, costly, and diplomatically risky step of an unconditional security pledge.

    Sep 24, 2020

  • The logo of the social network application TikTok and a US flag shown on a mobile device screen in Miami, Florida, September 18, 2020, photo by Johnny Louis/Reuters

    Commentary

    Could Time Be Up for TikTok?

    Is it possible for ByteDance to maintain ownership in TikTok Global while ameliorating U.S. national security concerns? At the heart of any deal should be a highly technical agreement on data security issues—one that not only the two companies but the two governments might have to agree to.

    Sep 24, 2020

  • Blog

    Wildfires, America's Wealth Gap, Screening for COVID-19 at Work: RAND Weekly Recap

    This weekly recap focuses on the growing risk of wildfires, how Americans' incomes have grown (or not), workplace screenings for COVID-19 symptoms, and more.

    Sep 18, 2020

  • U.S. Marines engage targets during a live-fire demonstration near At-Tanf Garrison, Syria, Sept, 7, 2018, photo by Cpl. Carlos Lopez/U.S. Marine Corps

    Commentary

    In the Middle East, Russia and China Expand Their Influence

    While the United States is concerned primarily about a resurgent China's inroads in the Middle East, it is also nervous about the gambits of a revanchist Russia. As the United States decides when and how to contest China and Russia—in and beyond the Middle East—it will have to resist alarmism as vigorously as complacency.

    Sep 18, 2020

  • U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper in discussion with Ted Harshberger, director of RAND Project AIR FORCE

    Multimedia

    U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper Visits RAND

    U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper visited RAND's Santa Monica headquarters on September 16, 2020. Secretary Esper emphasized the importance of deterring China and the role of the U.S. defense industrial base.

    Sep 16, 2020

  • Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga gestures as he is elected as new head of Japan's ruling party paving the way for him to replace Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in Tokyo, Japan, September 14, 2020, photo by KYODO/Reuters

    Commentary

    To Mr. Suga, the New Prime Minister, Three Top Priorities Presented by U.S. Researchers

    Understanding that there will be domestic pressures to focus on economic recovery and COVID-19 responses, what then might the next prime minister of Japan prioritize in the foreign policy and defense domains? There are three critical issues that could be top priorities for the next administration.

    Sep 15, 2020

  • Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy warships and fighter jets take part in a military display in the South China Sea, April 12, 2018

    Commentary

    America's Indo-Pacific Vision Is Becoming a Reality—Because of China

    The Trump administration's Indo-Pacific strategy has received a significant boost in recent months toward achieving its goal of keeping the region “free and open” from Chinese coercion. Ironically, China itself has been doing the boosting.

    Sep 14, 2020

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