Is America Prepared to Battle China in an Asymmetric War?

By Larry M. Wortzel

For China, asymmetric warfare represents a tactic with ancient roots that has been successfully applied to the contemporary age. Asymmetric warfare, as seen from Beijing, means using one’s own strengths and capabilities to attack an enemy’s weaknesses. Doing so may involve the use of terrain, tactics, or the application of new or different technologies.

Chinese military thought on asymmetric warfare draws heavily on classical strategy. The authors of The Science ofMilitary Strategy 2013, a leading contemporary military tract, cite Sun Tzu’s directive from The Art of War that in order to exact many victories, one must use asymmetric means (fei duicheng) with surprising military movements. Sun Tzu cautions that an army should employ a combination of direct, normal offensive and defensive moves, and unusual, unexpected, or sudden surprising moves in order to achieve dominance on the battlefield.

Of particular concern to Chinese planners is the so-called “Taiwan scenario,” in which more powerful Chinese forces face a weaker enemy, but a still more powerful enemy force (such as the United States) could intervene in the conflict. Accordingly, Chinese strategists have argued for the use of an array of “assassin’s mace weapons” to disrupt both the economy and communications in the event of war with the United States.

One such weapon is cyber and network attacks. China’s strategists argue that networks are the basic foundation of society and have become critical for national security, as well as a major new domain for military conflict. Researchers with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) believe that offensive operations against an adversary’s information systems can inflict serious damage on people, the economy and cause great financial losses.

China also is experimenting with taking the effects of a high-altitude detonation of a nuclear weapon that creates a highly destructive electromagnetic pulse (EMP), which could cripple and disrupt vast areas of American infrastructure and technology. There is now a serious competition underway between China and the United States to develop and refine EMP weapons, and the PLA is actively working on this area of technology.

Other forms of electrical-pulse weapons, such as radio-frequency weapons, high-power microwave and particle-beam systems, are likewise a major focus of Chinese development. China’s military leaders see the future of warfare as dependent on such capabilities.

China’s military is also paying greater emphasis to shaping public opinion globally. In a concept known as the “three warfares,” the PLA has made major investments in propaganda, psychological operations and “lawfare.” These three forms of political or information warfare can be performed in unison, or separately, in order to advance the objectives of China’s leaders in peace and in war.