The Hundred-Year Marathon

I started reading recently “The Hundred Year Marathon” book by Michael Pillsbury. It is a fascinating read and provides insight into China’s long-term strategic goals and the strategies it has used to achieve these goals over the past century.

Some key strategies employed by China are:

Patience: Has a long-term approach to achieving its strategic goals and is willing to wait for the right moment to make a move.

Deception: Using deception and misdirection to hide its true intentions from the outside world.

Influence Operations: China uses a variety of methods to influence foreign governments, including using its vast economic power to sway decision-making.

Strategic Acquisitions: China acquires strategic assets and technologies from other countries to advance its goals.

Building Alliances: China has been successful in building strong relationships and alliances with other countries, both to counterbalance the influence of the West and to expand its sphere of influence.

Soft Power: China has been successful in using its economic, and technological influence to shape the perceptions of other countries and advance its interests.

Military Power: China invests heavily in its military capabilities and uses them to project its power abroad.

Economic manipulation: China has been accused of using its trade surplus and control over critical minerals to exert economic pressure on the US and Europe.

Infiltration of American universities and research institutions: It is claimed that China has been using its large numbers of students and scholars in the US to gain access to cutting-edge research and technology.

Not just these, China is actively investing in many American media like:

• Dalian Wanda Group’s acquisition of the movie theater chain AMC in 2012
• China Daily’s distribution of its state-run English language paper in the US through major newspapers and airlines
• China International Television Corporation’s investment in U.S. television production company, All3Media, etc.

This book is truly fantastic showing how China has been misleading the USA and in fact, the rest of the World about its true intentions and capabilities, including its military capabilities and its goals for global power.

The rabbit hole goes quite deep indeed!