TVP WEEKLY: Can China militarily threaten the world? In your latest book, "War Without Rules: China's Playbook for Global Domination" – which has also been published in Poland – you describe a playbook developed by Chinese colonels Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui. “Unrestricted Warfare” has become the basis for the training of the commanding ranks in the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

GEN. ROBERT SPALDING: China will soon have the world's most powerful army with global military reach. This will give the [country] the ability to intervene in geopolitical disputes and secure economic and energy resources in every corner of the world. China will be able to act in a similar way as the U.S. and its allies did after the end of the Cold War.

What do the authors mean when they write that “everything is war”?

They point out that the notion of war in the Western sense – limited to the use of force to achieve political goals – is primitive and unnecessary in a globalised world with a universally accessible internet. These tools can make citizens of other countries adopt China's development model without military pressure. By controlling the global narrative, the world can be controlled without a single gunshot. On the battlefield of the 21st century, the hearts and minds of citizens of free countries are the targets, and greed and fear are the weapons of war. Beijing also uses favouritism from corporations and international financial institutions toward its plans in order to expand its influence.

You also write that the modern soldier is in the process of morphing into a digital warrior. What methods will he use to fight?

There is no need to shoot at the enemy if you can make the opponent agree with your position. As I said earlier, this can be achieved using the Internet. It doesn't have to happen right away. Maybe it will happen slowly over years or even decades, during which the principles of freedom will be undermined slowly but consistently. Why use B-2 bombers and missiles to destroy a mobile network transmitter? All you need to do is put malware into the system and turn it off when the time is right.

What are the ways China is implementing its global plans today?

Through the media, including social media, as well as relations in trade, finance, economics, academia, and politics. Each engagement helps the Chinese Communist Party gain acceptance for its interests.

And how are they waging war on business? By spying and stealing technology?

Not only that. They create an incentive system in multinational corporations, making it in their best interests to support the CCP's goals. This is why 21st-century warfare, the concept of which is embodied in “Unrestricted Warfare”, is so effective. They do not force us to cooperate with them, but they enrich those who play by China's rules. China's war against the West is effective because it employs mercenaries in large corporations. These mercenaries look like us because… they are us.

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  China has adopted an abnormal level of sanitisation in its fight against the COVID-19 outbreak. After all, it cools down the economy and undermines China's ability to expand globally. What does China gain from this?

When we look at the members of the current Chinese leadership, we must remember that they are party activists. They support Xi Jinping and the line of the Chinese Communist Party without questioning it. They are suspicious of the outside world and do not focus on developing the economy as Deng Xiaoping did when he came to power. Their aim is to control society as much as possible. COVID is a real disease, so they have an excuse to stop worrying about economic growth. This allows the party to change the social contract from ‘let us rule and we will take care of economic growth’, to ‘let us rule and we will make you safe’. This enables the CCP to move on to its more important task of unifying the country. And that means invading Taiwan. This will be difficult and will draw international condemnation, which will have an impact on the economy.

How realistic, then, is the direct use of combat resources by the U.S. to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese blockade of the island? Can we expect any real U.S. involvement beyond a demonstration?

This is completely unrealistic. China has nuclear weapons, and the United States cannot start a nuclear war because of Taiwan, as this would endanger the whole of humanity.

Do you understand why the world embraced Chinese solutions to combat COVID-19 in 2020?

Fear led to this. It is easier for citizens to agree to such measures when they are afraid. The lockdowns put in place by individual countries were never part of any pandemic protocol before the Wuhan lockdown, which started on the 23rd of January 2020. Most countries shut down their economies, so China's control over the supply chain increased. Especially as more and more products are made in China. The best example of this is the iPhone.

The fact that most countries in the world, with the exception of Taiwan, used Chinese solutions to combat the coronavirus was due to the WHO's support for policies coming out of China. Beijing used its influence to win over officials at international institutions. The current WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was China's candidate for the post. This was also made possible by the Imperial College of London, for example, which China sponsors with tens of millions of dollars every year. This institution created a biased epidemiological model that kickstarted a period of terror around the world.

Which countries can Beijing count on to implement its global plans? Is it only the BRICS countries, which besides China include Brazil, Russia, India, and South Africa?

[China can count on the support of] the countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, all authoritarian regimes and some democratic states.

What do you think is the possibility of Chinese expansion into the former post-Soviet republics in Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan?

China valued the success of the Marshall Plan in Europe after the end of WWII. With the Belt and Road Initiative, it is seeking to create a credible plan to achieve a similar goal. When the Cold War ended, the West stopped working with emerging market economies and didn't keep spreading prosperity. This was careless on the part of the West.

Will the U.S. attempt to counter Chinese expansion in Africa?

Africa is also part of China's Belt and Road Initiative. America's aid to Africa is random and haphazard. It is conducted without any real strategy or direction and is therefore ineffective.

China is Germany's most important trading partner. Germany's increasing dependence on commodities and other raw materials from China is quite obvious. What will come of this for Europe?

This will further divide Europe, as many countries on the Old Continent understand the challenges they face when dealing with China.

Will the U.S. somehow resist the Germany-China partnership?

The U.S. will have to give Germany an ultimatum. If Germany really wants China as its partner, then it can have the Chinese People's Liberation Army as its security partner.

Will the U.S. pursue a consistent human rights policy towards China? I am referring to China's repressive policies towards the Uyghur minority and Tibet.

Unfortunately, even in this area, there has been no consistent stance, as business issues prevailed over human rights concerns. The relationship with China and the close trade relations after the Cold War seriously damaged America's credibility. The only way to regain credibility is to cut ties with China as much as possible.

And what will the United States do when China lands on the moon and starts exploring other planets?

There is powerlessness in America and no desire to compete on the same level observed during the Cold War.

What kind of world does China want to create for us?

[They want to create a] world in which civil liberties, human rights, the rule of law, self-determination, and free trade do not exist, lest they tempt Chinese society.

Are we only able to choose between the Marxist ideology of the CCP and the cultural Marxism promoted by the U.S. in the form of political correctness? Is there any alternative to these systems?

The Marxist ideology of the Chinese Communist Party and the cultural Marxism of which political correctness is a consequence are two synonymous concepts, which is why the CCP has been – and continues to be – so successful. The West must abandon Cultural Marxism, if it does not, the whole world will become communist.

– Interview conducted by Tomasz Plaskota

TVP WEEKLY. Editorial team and journalists

–Translated by Roberto Galea