China’s military is preparing to wage future battles using lawyers and “legal warfare” as part of its asymmetric warfare strategy, according to the Pentagon’s annual report to Congress.
“Chinese military strategists are taking an increasing interest in international law as an instrument of policy in a conflict,” the report stated. “Some PLA thinkers believe law can be used as a weapon to deter adversaries prior to combat.”
One example is China’s plan to begin a “concerted information campaign” related to a Taiwan conflict in which Beijing would seek to portray U.S. or another nation's intervention as “illegitimate and outside of international legal norms,” the report said.
China also is engaged in an international effort to shape world opinion about its interpretation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
“By a series of scholarly articles and organized symposia, China has sought to shift scholarly opinion and the perspective of national governments away from interpretations of maritime law that favor freedom of navigation and toward interpretations of increased sovereign authority and control over the full 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone and the airspace above it,” the report said.
“This is an assertion of claims and rights in the maritime domain that could enhance the legitimacy of coercive Chinese operations at sea,” the report said.
Officials have said China is seeking to limit U.S. space capabilities by cooperating with Russia in seeking a ban on space weapons, something U.S. government opposes.
