Chinese Information Warfare

This book provides a framework for assessing China's extensive cyber espionage efforts and multi-decade modernization of its military, not only identifying the "what" but also addressing the "why" behind China's focus on establishing information dominance as a key component of its military efforts. China combines financial firepower—currently the world's second largest economy—with a clear intent of fielding a modern military capable of competing not only in the physical environments of land, sea, air, and outer space, but especially in the electromagnetic and cyber domains. This book makes extensive use of Chinese-language sources to provide policy-relevant insight into how the Chinese view the evolving relationship between information and future warfare as well as issues such as computer network warfare and electronic warfare. Written by an expert on Chinese military and security developments, this work taps materials the Chinese military uses to educate its own officers to explain the bigger-picture thinking that motivates Chinese cyber warfare. Readers will be able to place the key role of Chinese cyber operations in the overall context of how the Chinese military thinks future wars will be fought and grasp how Chinese computer network operations, including various hacking incidents, are part of a larger, different approach to warfare. The book's explanations of how the Chinese view information's growing role in warfare will benefit U.S. policymakers, while students in cyber security and Chinese studies will better understand how cyber and information threats work and the seriousness of the threat posed by China specifically.

The struggle to control information will be at the heart of a U.S-China military competition Much of the talk about intensifying confrontation between the United States and China has ignored the question of how modern technology will be wielded in a rising conflict. This ground-breaking book by an expert in technology and national security argues that the two contemporary superpowers will base their security competition primarily on the fight to dominate information and perception. One of the crucial questions facing each country is how it will attack the adversary's information architecture while protecting its own. How each country chooses to employ information countermeasures will, in large measure, determine the amount of friction and uncertainty in the conflict between them. Artificial intelligence will lie at the heart of this information-based war. But the adaptation of AI algorithms into operational systems will take time, and of course will be subject to countermeasures developed by a very sophisticated adversary using disruption and deception. To determine how China will approach the conflict, this book reviews recent Chinese research into sensing, communications, and artificial intelligence. Chinese officials and experts carefully studied U.S. dominance of the information field during and after the cold war with the Soviet Union and are now employing the lessons they learned into their own county's mounting challenge to United States. This book will interest military officials, defense industry managers, policy experts in academic think tanks, and students of national security. It provides a sober view of how artificial intelligence will be turned against itself in the new information war.

In late 2015, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) initiated reforms that have brought dramatic changes to its structure, model of warfighting, and organizational culture, including the creation of a Strategic Support Force (SSF) that centralizes most PLA space, cyber, electronic, and psychological warfare capabilities. The reforms come at an inflection point as the PLA seeks to pivot from land-based territorial defense to extended power projection to protect Chinese interests in the "strategic frontiers" of space, cyberspace, and the far seas. Understanding the new strategic roles of the SSF is essential to understanding how the PLA plans to fight and win informationized wars and how it will conduct information operations.

Three years before the September 11 bombing of the World Trade Center-a Chinese military manual called Unrestricted Warfare touted such an attack-suggesting it would be difficult for the U.S. military to cope with. The events of September ll were not a random act perpetrated by independent agents. The doctrine of total war outlined in Unrestricted Warfare clearly demonstrates that the People's Republic of China is preparing to confront the United States and our allies by conducting "asymmetrical" or multidimensional attack on almost every aspect of our social, economic and political life.

This book provides a framework for assessing China's extensive cyber espionage efforts and multi-decade modernization of its military, not only identifying the "what" but also addressing the "why" behind China's focus on establishing information dominance as a key component of its military efforts. China combines financial firepower—currently the world's second largest economy—with a clear intent of fielding a modern military capable of competing not only in the physical environments of land, sea, air, and outer space, but especially in the electromagnetic and cyber domains. This book makes extensive use of Chinese-language sources to provide policy-relevant insight into how the Chinese view the evolving relationship between information and future warfare as well as issues such as computer network warfare and electronic warfare. Written by an expert on Chinese military and security developments, this work taps materials the Chinese military uses to educate its own officers to explain the bigger-picture thinking that motivates Chinese cyber warfare. Readers will be able to place the key role of Chinese cyber operations in the overall context of how the Chinese military thinks future wars will be fought and grasp how Chinese computer network operations, including various hacking incidents, are part of a larger, different approach to warfare. The book's explanations of how the Chinese view information's growing role in warfare will benefit U.S. policymakers, while students in cyber security and Chinese studies will better understand how cyber and information threats work and the seriousness of the threat posed by China specifically.

An introduction to the works of authoritative and innovative Chinese authors whose writings focus on the future of the Chinese military. These carefully selected, representative essays make Chinese military thinking more accessible to western readers. It reveals, for example, China's keen interest in the Revolution in military affairs. This volume is an important starting point for understanding China's future military modernization. "Must reading for every executive of every Western firm doing business in China." "Readers will be impressed by China's ambitions in space, information warfare, stealth, and robots, in future warfare." Photos.

The PLA spent more than a decade examining U.S. military publications on network-centric warfare and the evolution of American doctrine on information warfare. After observing American information operations in the Balkans and the first Gulf War, the PLA saw the effect of modern information operations on the battlefield and in the international arena. The PLA then began to implement its own form of information warfare. The Chinese military has adopted information warfare concepts suited to its own organization and doctrine, blending its own traditional tactics, concepts from the Soviet military, and U.S. doctrine to bring the PLA into the information age. At the same time, the PLA has modernized and improved upon its own psychological warfare operations and expanded the role for its legal scholars in justifying military action and territorial claims. The PLA's command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance programs support the ground forces, navy, air force, missile forces, nuclear doctrine, and space warfare. China's military doctrine depends on incorporating information technology and networked information operations. The PLA's operational concepts for employing traditional signals intelligence and electronic warfare have expanded to include cyber warfare; kinetic and cyber attacks on satellites; and information confrontation operations across the electromagnetic spectrum. In doing so, as Dr. Wortzel's monograph explains, the PLA used innovative means to expand on Cold War Soviet doctrine on "radioelectronic combat," which called for a combination of jamming and precision air, missile and artillery strikes on North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces. The Chinese military, however, apparently intends to conduct these activities at the tactical, operational and strategic levels of war, envisioning attacks on an enemy's homeland critical infrastructure and points of embarkation. Along with these more technical aspects of information operations, the PLA's combination of psychological warfare; the manipulation of public opinion, or media warfare; and the manipulation of legal arguments to strengthen China's diplomatic and security position-or what China calls "legal warfare"-join together in a comprehensive information operations doctrine. This monograph explains how the PLA is revising its operational doctrine to meet what it sees as the new mode of "integrated, joint operations" for the 21st century. An understanding of thee PLA's new concepts are important for U.S. and allied military leaders and planners.

A look inside the weaponization of social media, and an innovative proposal for protecting Western democracies from information warfare. When Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram were first introduced to the public, their mission was simple: they were designed to help people become more connected to each other. Social media became a thriving digital space by giving its users the freedom to share whatever they wanted with their friends and followers. Unfortunately, these same digital tools are also easy to manipulate. As exemplified by Russia's interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, authoritarian states can exploit social media to interfere with democratic governance in open societies. Tyrants on Twitter is the first detailed analysis of how Chinese and Russian agents weaponize Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube to subvert the liberal international order. In addition to examining the 2016 U.S. election, David L. Sloss explores Russia's use of foreign influence operations to threaten democracies in Europe, as well as China's use of social media and other digital tools to meddle in Western democracies and buttress autocratic rulers around the world. Sloss calls for cooperation among democratic governments to create a new transnational system for regulating social media to protect Western democracies from information warfare. Drawing on his professional experience as an arms control negotiator, he outlines a novel system of transnational governance that Western democracies can enforce by harmonizing their domestic regulations. And drawing on his academic expertise in constitutional law, he explains why that system—if implemented by legislation in the United States—would be constitutionally defensible, despite likely First Amendment objections. With its critical examination of information warfare and its proposal for practical legislative solutions to fight back, this book is essential reading in a time when disinformation campaigns threaten to undermine democracy.