Inside the Ring

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Unrestricted warfare

Two of China's most notorious military strategists are coming to the United States, not as guests of the Pentagon, but under a State Department program.

Col. Qiao Liang and Col. Wang Xiangsui are authors of the 1999 book "Unrestricted Warfare," which advocates China's use all forms of warfare, including state-supported terrorism, to win future conflicts.

"From a military standpoint, then, the traditional terror war is characterized by the use of limited resources to fight an unlimited war," they wrote.

The colonels' visit, expected in the next few weeks, comes amid questions about the Pentagon's military exchange program with China led by Adm. William J. Fallon, head of the U.S. Pacific Command.

Pentagon officials tell us China's military for nearly a decade has failed to cooperate with the United States in its selection of military officers for exchanges.

Policy-oriented military leaders have been blocked from the exchange program and their identity within an officer corps, estimated to be as many as 300,000 officers, remains a secret.

Instead, the Chinese military only sends officers who either seek information on U.S. warfighting weaknesses, or older generals who soon retire and thus cannot influence the future of China's military.

In one case several years ago, a Chinese officer asked a U.S. Navy officer during a visit to identify the key weakness of a U.S. aircraft carrier, a major Chinese target in any U.S.-Chinese conflict over Taiwan.

The officer was naively told that the weakest point is under the hull, and that it also happens to be closest to where its ammunition is stored.