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Letters: We must stand our ground

Rand Corp recently published a book titled Entering the Dragon's Lair: Chinese Anti-access Strategies and their Implications for the United States. In the book, the US think tank listed the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) 10 tactical principles for defeating a technologically superior adversary: "Avoiding direct confrontation, exploiting US vulnerabilities decisively, seizing the initiative early, achieving victory through surprise, key-point strikes, paralyzing first and annihilating later, achieving information superiority, raising the cost of conflict, frustrating the adversary's strategic intention, undermining its resolve and determination and preventing it fighting the type of war it wants to fight."

Several of these principles are, in fact, the principles of guerilla warfare proposed by Mao Zedong (毛澤東).

"Avoiding the strengths and attacking the weakness of the enemy" means using delaying tactics to exhaust the US Army, undermine its resolve and prevent it from fighting the type of war it wants to fight.

Destroying the enemy's will to fight is what Sun Tzo (孫子) called "breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting." The modern term for it is psychological warfare or psyops (psychological operations).

How we overcome the PLA's psyops will be the foundation of establishing an unassailable position.

In 1928 Mao pointed out that "the Communist Party can only defeat its enemy with its left hand taking leaflets and right hand holding weapons." This mode of operations is similar to what the US did in the Gulf War and the Iraq War -- bombarding Baghdad with superior missiles on the one hand and publicizing its operations through the global media on the other. It could be argued that these are different in approach but equally satisfactory in result.

In recent years, China has intensified its media war against Taiwan. Beijing has tried numerous tactics, such as trying to give Taiwan pandas, promising tariff-free importation of Taiwanese agricultural items and allowing Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan.

China has also deployed more than 900 missiles aimed at Taiwan, showed off the performance of its F-10 fighters, successfully tested an anti-satellite weapon and worked on developing aircraft carriers.

Through military and non-military operations, China is trying to force the Taiwanese to surrender. It expects to conquer Taiwan without losing a soldier or firing a bullet.

The ultimate goal of the People's Republic of China (PRC) is to eliminate the Republic of China. The objective of the PRC's media warfare is to defeat Taiwan psychologically.

Whether we accept pandas from China as a show of goodwill or make a concession because of China's military intimidation, the end result is the same -- we are giving in to Beijing.

Therefore, only by recognizing the nature of China's warfare can we counter the PRC's tactics and maintain our psychological defenses. I hope our people understand this and remain on the alert.

Dai Kaifeng

Taichung

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