by Jim Morris, Warrior Vice President, News
The US Army has come out with a new paper looking at how China’s armed forces would fight in a major conflict, warning that Beijing’s “potent combination of economic strength, technological prowess, an a grand strategic vision are driving a military modernization that presents a significant challenge to the United States and its allies in the Indo-Pacific.”
The document, titled “How China Fights in Large-Scale Combat Operations,” was published by the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC).
It notes that China’s strategy is built on what is known as “active defense” which combines a defensive posture with offensive operational and tactical capabilities. Analysts believe that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has developed a “comprehensive joint counter-intervention complex aimed at deterring, delaying and defeating enemy forces before they can arrive in theater at full strength.
China is said to count on technologies such as artificial intelligence, cyber capabilities and electronic warfare to paralyze enemy systems. Meanwhile, it would use joint firepower strikes to target crucial deployment routes and logistics hubs.
US experts point out that “ground forces, which are often underestimated in discussions about Pacific conflicts dominated by air and naval forces, play a critical role in countering China’s strategies.” They say that US ground forces would be needed to secure key terrain that would enable joint operations.
The paper says that while China’s military is increasingly modernized, its strategy has its roots in the Chinese civil war in the late 1940s.
“The strategy integrates the concept of ‘Modern People’s War,’ which the (Chinese Communist Party) defines as the mass mobilization of society to confront foreign aggression or protect national unity…In this context, there is a greater requirement for attention to the economic and technological aspects of conflict.”
The paper says that in case of conflict, China would use a counter-intervention strategy that would be divided into three phases – actions involving the Pacific region and the continental US (which could involve strategic political actions), military operations against the US and its allies in the eastern and central Pacific, and tactical engages at or near the objectives of US intervention.
Army experts point out that in case of war with Taiwan, China would have a huge numerical advantage – a total PLA force of more than three million, while Taiwan’s military strength is roughly 1.8 million personnel. Still, China would have to overcome limited sealift capacity and logistical challenges posed both by geography and enemy fire.
In his forward to the paper, Ian Sullivan, the deputy chief of staff, writes that the document will “help us fulfill our primary mission, which is to know our potential adversaries, and to ensure that our key customers do too.”
Jim Morris is a former executive and senior producer and editor at ABC News & Bloomberg TV. He is now the Warrior Vice President, News
