Winning the Hundred Battles: China and Asymmetric Warfare
Abstract
The term "asymmetric warfare" is comparatively new in Chinese defense circles, and it is often used in reference to the United States. Yet China has a long theoretical and historical tradition of seeking asymmetric responses to strategic challenges. This tradition continues to the present, as can be seen in Chinese responses to the 1979 Vietnam incursion, the Taiwan Straits, and dealing with American military power. This thesis will focus on examining the question of whether or not the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) is developing asymmetric warfare capabilities and, if so, what the characteristics of these asymmetric capabilities are. In the process of answering this question, several secondary questions have to be addressed. First, one must define the meaning of asymmetric in reference to military capability. Second is an examination of China's regional threat perception. Third is an analysis of how the PLA seeks to militarily deal with these threats. Finally, one must ask what the term Asymmetric Warfare means to Chinese strategists. This last question will allow the reader to then understand the facets of the primary question: Is it China's modus operandi to develop asymmetric responses to threats and, if so, how does this shape the Chinese efforts to modernize their force, doctrine, and conceptions of war?
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 06, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA430913
Entities
People
- Nicholas R. Reisdorff
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College