Shipbuilding and a Shifting Maritime Balance

This update will focus on shipbuilding. At the Atlantic Council we’ll be holding a public event on May 1^st at 10 AM featuring Senator Mark Kelly, Senator Todd Young, and Congressman John Garamendi on the SHIPS for America Act. I’m looking forward to seeing some of you there.

Retired Captain Thomas Shugart just started a navalist Substack, The Shugart Update. The first post examines “Chinese global maritime power—its scale, its origins, and its implications for free societies.” Matthew P. Funaiole, Brian Hart, and Aidan Powers-Riggs of CSIS recently launched a report, Ship Wars: Confronting China’s Dual-Use Shipbuilding Empire that “offers a detailed policy roadmap for how Washington can disrupt China’s military-civil fusion strategy, erode China’s market dominance, and increase shipbuilding capacity within the United States and key partner countries.” I also recently wrote an analysis for ChinaTalk on how the PRC civilian fleet could enable a distributed, real-time radar and sonar sensor network around Taiwan and conduct drone strikes, mine-laying, and other operations.

An update on the PRC’s rhetoric surrounding “两国和两国人民的根本利益” [The fundamental interests of the two countries and their peoples]. The PRC initially adopted this rhetoric following the Prigozhin mutiny, as The Report noted at the time. Since then, the PRC has repeated this formulation for other, non-Russian countries, including (at least) Nauru. Finally, the authoritative People’s Daily Chinese-language service eliminated its Russia-related section a few months ago. Interestingly, only five countries are now covered by the PD’s world affairs update: Japan, the United States, South Korea, and Australia/New Zealand (grouped together).

I plan to write analyses on China-Russia economic ties and 两国和两国人民的根本利益 over the next month or so, although I haven’t decided the best format for both pieces. I’ll also likely publish analyses on AI and energy, U.S. dual-use trade, and shipbuilding for the Atlantic Council. Thank you for reading the China-Russia Report. I look forward to seeing some of you soon.

Picture (ChatGPT 4o prompt): A picture of a submarine, a destroyer, a container ship, unmanned surface vessels, and First-Person View (FPV) quadcopters

Shipbuilding

Strengthening US shipbuilding: Congress’s role in maritime revitalization

Senator Mark Kelly, Senator Todd Young, and Congressman John Garamendi discuss the SHIPS for America Act and its implications for the future of US national security.

Event: Thu, May 1, 2025 • 10:00 am ET 1400 L Street NW Floor 11 Washington, DC 20005

Comment: Public event with Senator Kelly,