A group of retired generals yesterday warned against the potential threat of a new form of battle, known as asymmetric warfare, which China is developing, saying an invisible war might already be underway between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
"Asymmetric warfare, ranging from information warfare carried out by computer virus attacks to terrorist attacks, is basically a revision of guerrilla warfare (?H民戰爭) which the communist troops developed in the civil war against the nationalists. The leaders of our government troops did not take the communist tactic seriously at the time and ended up losing the war," said General (Ret.) Liu Ta-tsai (劉1F材) at a seminar yesterday.
"If our military leaders ignore the potential threat of asymmetric warfare, they will make the same mistake as their predecessors in the civil war," Liu said.
"Asymmetric warfare can be started anytime and anywhere without any restriction on its means. It may have already begun between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait," he said.
"We must treat the problem with the experience which we gathered during the civil war on guerrilla warfare that the communists launched against us."
Liu urged the strengthening of civil defense on the island as a counter-measure, which he considered might be the most effective way to counter asymmetric warfare.
Liu made the remarks at a seminar of the Institute for Strategic Studies (
Asymmetric warfare, Liu said, is based on a book published in February by two senior colonels of the air force of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
"The book did not get much attention from the PLA leadership or the public at first. It became popular and widely read only after the US military got hold of it and took it very seriously," Liu said.
"The US military had the book translated into English immediately. It caused considerable anxiety that the book might be sending a signal about China's plan to use terrorism to attain military goals," he said.
"China develops asymmetric warfare mainly because it knows it cannot bring its conventional military prowess to the level of advanced countries like the US and some European countries," said Major General (Ret.) Hsieh Tai-hsi (謝台3?.
"It aims to develop asymmetric warfare using unconventional methods to reverse its military inferiority and eventually defeat countries which are stronger militarily," Hsieh said.
"Asymmetric warfare means a blurring or transcendence of all boundaries of traditional war. It involves the application of all sorts of means, including both military and non-military, to attain military ends," he said.
"This development indicates a future trend in the battlefield -- a combination of all sorts of forms of war, whether military or non-military, to launch a completely new type of warfare," he said.
Asymmetric warfare practices have been used by several countries in recent years, Hsieh said, such as the combined use by NATO allies of armed forces, as well as diplomatic and legal warfare against Yugoslavia in Kosovo earlier this year.
"Future wars can be divided into four types: information warfare, precision-weapons warfare, joint-services combat, and non-war military operations," according to Hsieh.
RSS