Grinder
12 August 2003, 15:01
By Sgt. 1st Class Doug Sample
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Aug. 11, 2003 - The military strategy of "shock
and awe" used to stun the Iraqi military in the opening
campaign of Operation Iraqi Freedom might be used by the
Chinese if military force is needed to bring Taiwan back
under communist control.
According to the released recently
The Annual Report on the Military Power of the People's
Republic of China, [http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/20030730chinaex.pdf] the country's military doctrine now
stresses elements such as "surprise, deception and pre-
emption." Furthermore, the report states that Beijing
believes that "surprise is crucial" for the success of any
military campaign.
Taiwan, located off the coast of mainland China, claimed
independence from the communist country in 1949. The island
has 21 million people and its own democratic government.
China, with 1.3 billion people, claims sovereignty over the
tiny island, sees Taiwan as a breakaway province and has
threatened to use military force against Taiwan to reunify
the country. And China's force against Taiwan could come as
a surprise attack.
But "China would not likely initiate any military action
unless assured of a significant degree of strategic
surprise," according to the report.
The report states that Lt. Gen. Zheng Shenxia, chief of
staff of the People's Liberation Army's Air Force and an
advocate of pre-emptive action, believes the chances of
victory against Taiwan would be "limited" without adopting
a pre-emptive strategy.
The report says that China now believes pre-emptive strikes
are its best advantage against a technologically superior
force. Capt. Shen Zhongchang from the Chinese Navy Research
Institute is quoted as saying that "lighting attacks and
powerful first strikes will be widely used in the future."
China's new military thinking has evolved over the past
decade. PLA observers have been studying U.S. military
strategies since the first Gulf War, when they noticed how
quickly U.S. forces using state-of-the-art weapons defeated
Iraqi forces that in some ways resemble their own.
Since then, the report states the PLA has shifted its war
approach from "annihilative," where an army uses "mass and
attrition" to defeat an enemy, to more "coercive
warfighting strategies."
The PLA now considers "shock power" as a crucial coercion
element to the opening phase of its war plans and that PLA
operational doctrine is now designed to actively "take the
initiative" and "catch the enemy unprepared."
"With no apparent political prohibitions against pre-
emption, the PLA requires shock as a force multiplier to
catch Taiwan or another potential adversary, such as the
United States, unprepared," the report states.
Ways the PLA would catch Taiwan and the U.S. off guard
include strategic and operational deception, electronic
warfare and wearing down or desensitizing the opponent's
political and military leadership. Another objective would
be to reduce any indication or warning of impending
military action, the report states.
Preparing for a possible conflict with Taiwan and deterring
the United States from intervening on Taiwan's behalf is
the "primary driver" of China's military overhaul,
according to this year's report. Over the course of the
next decade the country will spend billions to counter U.S.
advances in warfare technology, the report states.
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Aug. 11, 2003 - The military strategy of "shock
and awe" used to stun the Iraqi military in the opening
campaign of Operation Iraqi Freedom might be used by the
Chinese if military force is needed to bring Taiwan back
under communist control.
According to the released recently
The Annual Report on the Military Power of the People's
Republic of China, [http://www.defenselink.mil/pubs/20030730chinaex.pdf] the country's military doctrine now
stresses elements such as "surprise, deception and pre-
emption." Furthermore, the report states that Beijing
believes that "surprise is crucial" for the success of any
military campaign.
Taiwan, located off the coast of mainland China, claimed
independence from the communist country in 1949. The island
has 21 million people and its own democratic government.
China, with 1.3 billion people, claims sovereignty over the
tiny island, sees Taiwan as a breakaway province and has
threatened to use military force against Taiwan to reunify
the country. And China's force against Taiwan could come as
a surprise attack.
But "China would not likely initiate any military action
unless assured of a significant degree of strategic
surprise," according to the report.
The report states that Lt. Gen. Zheng Shenxia, chief of
staff of the People's Liberation Army's Air Force and an
advocate of pre-emptive action, believes the chances of
victory against Taiwan would be "limited" without adopting
a pre-emptive strategy.
The report says that China now believes pre-emptive strikes
are its best advantage against a technologically superior
force. Capt. Shen Zhongchang from the Chinese Navy Research
Institute is quoted as saying that "lighting attacks and
powerful first strikes will be widely used in the future."
China's new military thinking has evolved over the past
decade. PLA observers have been studying U.S. military
strategies since the first Gulf War, when they noticed how
quickly U.S. forces using state-of-the-art weapons defeated
Iraqi forces that in some ways resemble their own.
Since then, the report states the PLA has shifted its war
approach from "annihilative," where an army uses "mass and
attrition" to defeat an enemy, to more "coercive
warfighting strategies."
The PLA now considers "shock power" as a crucial coercion
element to the opening phase of its war plans and that PLA
operational doctrine is now designed to actively "take the
initiative" and "catch the enemy unprepared."
"With no apparent political prohibitions against pre-
emption, the PLA requires shock as a force multiplier to
catch Taiwan or another potential adversary, such as the
United States, unprepared," the report states.
Ways the PLA would catch Taiwan and the U.S. off guard
include strategic and operational deception, electronic
warfare and wearing down or desensitizing the opponent's
political and military leadership. Another objective would
be to reduce any indication or warning of impending
military action, the report states.
Preparing for a possible conflict with Taiwan and deterring
the United States from intervening on Taiwan's behalf is
the "primary driver" of China's military overhaul,
according to this year's report. Over the course of the
next decade the country will spend billions to counter U.S.
advances in warfare technology, the report states.