Chinese spies in the West
An analysis of numerous cases leads to the conclusion that China has shifted its tactics in recruiting citizens of Western countries.
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By ANDREI CHANG
HONG KONG, April 18 (UPI) -- China's intelligence agency has reinforced its infiltration activities in Europe, North America, Japan and Russia in recent years.
Beijing has abandoned the traditional approach of ideological persuasion, turning instead to the use of blackmail, women and money -- quite similar to the practices employed by the former Soviet Union's KGB and the former East German Intelligence Agency. A series of "massage salon" incidents involving Japanese diplomats in Beijing and Shanghai are typical examples.
At the same time, the targets of recruitment by Chinese intelligence agents are switching from ethnic Chinese to local personnel of mainstream society who work in core government departments.
There is credible evidence that the large number of community organizations that have emerged in Chinese communities in the United States and Canada are actually receiving financial support from the Chinese embassies and consulates.
Then who do these people really work for? The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Canadian Intelligence Service might find the answer of interest.
Readers of this article can test this for themselves by obtaining the name card of a Chinese journalist or diplomat responsible for education, and calling the office of his or her media or institution in Beijing. After numerous such tests, experiences and observations, this author's conclusion is that the number of Chinese spies who work in the United States and Canada is much larger than the number who worked for the former Soviet KGB.
Much more at the link...
The correct interpretation of Unrestricted Warfare
Coming from an approach of studying Chinese philosophy, there are a couple of points that I consistently see military folks getting wrong about Unrestricted Warfare, the 1999 piece by two PLA colonels that predicted 9/11. One of the authors was a specialist in Chinese literature, and there are references to philosophy sprinkled throughout the text (one of the chapter names is a reference to Dao De Jing, Daoism's seminal work) so I think this angle is an important one.
1. One shouldn't take it only at a literal level. If you compare this to works like Mao Zedong's On Guerrilla Warfare, and Sun Zi's Art of War, there a couple different levels to it. Whereas you might be able to learn from On Guerrilla Warfare if you're a Communist, or Islamist, and anyone else, and ignore the overall ideological message, it would be hard to look at that work and totally ignore its connection to Communism. Likewise, The Art of War can be applied to a multitude of situations, but you won't understand it totally without also understanding its grounding in Daoism and Confucianism. There's been a lot of discussion about the connection between 9/11, along with cyber warfare and a few other relatively restricted topics, with Unrestricted Warfare. That's not wrong, but I think it misses the overall message of the work: the power that comes from being seen as having been oppressed. This was why Bin Laden was such a potent example. I suspect though, because of this larger point, this piece would have become an important work with or without 9/11 - all the more because of its subtlety.
2. Along those lines, being a political doctrine, this work has interesting things to say about Chinese intentions and strategy, not just tactics. The essence of Mao's piece was that China was in a weak position. You could say, in effect, it was an interpretation of Sun Zi for a specific situation. Now China is not as weak. It's clear from works like Unrestricted Warfare, as well as On Guerrilla Warfare that China sees its advantage in asymmetrical warfare. In that sense, nothing's changed - except that China's situation in the world has. This is where it gets a little speculative, but I think you can trace the roots of Unrestricted Warfare back to Sun Zi, as well as Mao Zedong, who would have said that you need to create the advantageous situation, even if it doesn't naturally exist. So the point is not just to use asymmetric warfare when necessary, but to keep yourself as the underdog, so that it asymmetric warfare will become necessary. This, in my opinion, is how China complains about American economic mismanagement, when it was also Chinese economic mismanagement that helped cause the financial crisis. That may have been part of the plan all along. China can justify taking actions that might make it financially worse off (along with the US), because of the political doctrine of 'underdogism.'
In general, I find that it's much more useful to study Chinese classics to understand contemporary China than it is to study the Soviet or Japanese systems. Political ideology, in the sense that we use the word (involving a reason why a particular set of rulers might be better for the citizens than any other set, and a specific set of policies, besides just 'everything that's good') was just a 'weapon' used by Mao. There's nothing fundamental about it in China.
projections of pandamonium
Here are some folks who take it seriously.
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Are CHINA and the UNITED STATES headed for WAR?
Yes, say bestselling authors Jed Babbin (former deputy undersecretary of defense) and Edward Timperlake (veteran defense analyst) in this riveting new book that takes you from the latest developments in China’s quest to become a superpower to the possible battlefields of what might become World War III.
Babbin and Timperlake unveil China’s aggressive military buildup (more rapid than that of Nazi Germany before World War II) and expose how China is engaging in a new Cold War aimed at expanding its commercial and military reach at the expense of the United States. Babbin (a former Air Force JAG) and Timperlake (a former Marine fighter pilot) do more than offer expert analysis. In dramatic Clancy-esque style, they take you into the field with Navy SEALs and Air Force bomber pilots, invite you inside the war councils at the White House and the Pentagon, and peer within China’s own Politburo in an exciting—and all too likely—series of war scenarios.
In Showdown, Babbin and Timperlake reveal:
* The unholy alliance between Communist China and radical Islam—and a possible war over Middle Eastern oil
* How China is infiltrating Latin America—including oil-rich Venezuela—to create an anti-American axis
* How a Chinese attack on Taiwan could spark the biggest war in the Pacific since World War II
* The vulnerability of Japan and the United States to Chinese cyber-warfare
* The likelihood of a second Korean War . . . only this time, the madmen in North Korea have nuclear weapons
As Babbin and Timperlake make clear, China is the greatest—and most dangerously ignored—threat to America’s national security. If America does not deter China’s aggressive ambitions, the result could be global war. Provocative, thrilling, and must-reading, Showdown is a wake-up call for America.
From the editorial blurb for:Showdown: Why China Wants War With The United States - Amazon
Also:
U.S. Intelligence Council Reading List