I’ve been digging into the “Ministry of Truth” series from War on the Rocks discussing Chinese political warfare.
It’s a three part series, and to date, the first two have been released.
Each is packed with links and sources. You can go deep down the rabbit hole if you’re interested in building a better understanding of Chinese political warfare.
A couple of choice excerpts below.
Part I Contrasting China’s and Russia’s Influence Operations.
On the fact that political warfare is “standard operating procedure” for Russia and China:
The operational differences, for all their practical implications, may be less important than the simple recognition that Beijing and Moscow both approach influence operations and active measures as a normal way of doing business.
On the different approaches Russia/China take in regards to political warfare:
Undoubtedly, more can be said about how to understand the distinctions between Chinese and Russian influence operations and political warfare. Perhaps the best way to describe the differences between the two approaches is that the Chinese are human- or relationship-centric while the Russians are operation- or effects-centric.
Part II China’s ‘three warfares’ in perspective.
Looking at the PLA in strictly military terms lacks a true understanding of their purpose:
When analysts look at the PLA, they are looking at it as a military — at its warfighting capabilities and the resulting security implications. It is a purely military view that lacks a clear concept for appreciating political warfare.
Influence operations are directly connected to political power:
The party leads, the PLA follows. The purpose of influence operations is political power.
Lessons learned from watching the US in the Persian Gulf war (emphasis in bold mine). I’d love to see more on this, by the way:
The Persian Gulf War to expel Iraq from Kuwait taught the PLA the value and power of information in the modern context. Most obviously, precision-guided bombs blowing out buildings on CNN cameras demonstrated the value of targeting intelligence and guided munitions. However, the PLA also drew lessons from the George H.W. Bush administration’s diplomatic effort to paint Iraq as the aggressor and to rally an international coalition, including Iraq’s Arab neighbors. They also admired the psychological warfare efforts to induce Iraqi commanders to surrender or retreat without fighting.
Related, a short (and kind of choppy) article in Small Wars Journal that couches China’s approach as war, not competition. The author seems to be inferring that we should not be using the “great power competition” construct because our adversaries aren’t.
Image at the top: “The Boss” mentoring “Naked Snake” (MGS3).
Enjoy the posts? Subscribe to the monthly newsletter.
Carrying the Gun 