China's modern warfare without war

Despite boasting formidable military capabilities and engaging in loud sabre-rattling, China consistently avoids direct military entanglements, choosing instead a path of deception, diplomacy and economic entrapment

- BHOPINDER SINGH

Chinese philosopher, Sun Tzu (author of Art of War) has influenced the thinking and policies of the Chinese leadership, for eons. Amongst his most potent and famous treatise is on the military doctrine of asymmetrical warfare, which is increasingly relevant in a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) world of constant churn and dissonance.

One key feature of expansionist China's strategy has been to follow Sun Tzu’s very cost-efficient dictum of “subduing the enemy without fighting”. Much has been made of China’s militaristic prowess, aggressive postures, 6th Generation technology and weaponry, “Wolf Warrior” diplomacy et al, but a quick scan of all recent global conflicts and wars will show the stark absence of Chinese boots-on-ground, despite much noise of China’s positions on the conflict.

As seen, when the US-NATO abandoned Afghanistan, in the Israel-Gaza war, Russia-Ukraine war, or even very recently in the four-day Indo-Pak conflict, the much-bandied intervention by Pakistan's ‘iron-clad brother’ i.e, China, was limited to adopting a pro-Pakistan position, diplomatically only.

In India, specifically, imagined scenarios like the “two-front war” led to much discussion and strategising to ensure deterrence and dissuasion of a simultaneous conflict along the China-Pakistan border. The sense of acute vulnerability was heightened by the reality of the already-stretched, resource-constrained, and over-deployed Indian wherewithal, which would test its ability to take on two powers simultaneously (one of which would be China).