China is Watching Us. Is the U.S. Air Force Still Watching China?

On Oct. 1, 2026, Beijing celebrated the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and the beginning of the end for the U.S. Air University’s China Aerospace Studies Institute. The institute was one of several centers of excellence established across the U.S. military’s professional military education programs, with the Army, Navy, and Air Force each running a center focused on its own service’s needs. The China Aerospace Studies Institute, however, was more than just a U.S. Air Force and Space Force research center that provided open-source insi