US Army Views Chinese Military Tactics

中国将如何与美国作战？

A new US Army publication sets out to answer that question, offering a detailed account of the military tactics China could employ. SeeChinese Tactics, Army Techniques Publication (ATP) 7-100.3, August 9, 2021.

The 250-page document is mainly intended to help provide a realistic basis for training of US forces. But in doing so it sheds some new light on China’s military forces, at least as they are perceived by US military observers. It is based primarily on open sources.

“This publication presents PLA [People’s Liberation Army] military theory largely as written and prescribed by the PLAA [PLA Army],”the manualsays. “Real world practices of PLA units are . . . generally not included as part of the analysis underpinning this document.”

对中国军事战术的描述在某种程度上必然是投机性的。“ PLA在近半个世纪以来没有参加过积极的冲突，因此现实世界的应用是最少的。[但是]有关中国军事训练练习的可用信息以及最近的几个冲突例子似乎表明，包括PLA的实践（包括PLAA的实践）非常符合其军事理论。”

As for the command structure of the Chinese military, it “is complex and opaque to outsiders. . . . There are no fewer than ten different national-level command organizations in China, organized across at least three different levels of a complex hierarchy.”

“Deception plays a critical role in every part of the Chinese approach to conflict,” according tothe document。”,而不是专注于opp击败onent in direct conflict — as most Western militaries do — [Chinese military] stratagems consider deception, trickery, and other indirect, perception-based efforts to be the most important elements of an operation.”

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目前关于中国的数量是新军队有关外国军事战术的第二卷。以前的卷朝鲜战术（ATP 7-100.2）是published last year。另外两卷Russian Tactics(ATP 7-100.1) andIranian Tactics（ATP 7-100.4）预计将于今年晚些时候出现。

虽然未分类，但“这些评估是基于可用的最新信息，”陆军情报专家詹妮弗·邓恩（Jennifer Dunn）（“训练今天的军队明天的威胁”军事情报专业公告, Oct-Dec 2020). “Subject matter experts within the Department of Defense and intelligence communities have vetted them, ensuring their veracity and applicability to the greater Army training and intelligence community.”

“It is also essential for the Army, especially for the regionally aligned elements, to thoroughly understand the adversary they are most likely to encounter in future conflicts,” she wrote, in an unwitting paraphrase of Sun Tzu’s famous dictum about knowing the enemy.

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The US government can and should do far more to produce such open source materials on national security and foreign policy, say some members of Congress. A bill (HR 4747) sponsored by Rep. Joaquin Castro and several bipartisan colleagues, would create a new “Open Translation and Analysis Center (OTAC).”

“OTAC would be charged with translating into English important open source foreign-language material from the People’s Republic of China, Russia, and other countries of strategic interest,” according toa July 28 news release。“The translated material would be available on a public website, serving as a key resource for the U.S. and allied governments, media outlets, and academics and analysts around the world.”

“Along with translations, OTAC would provide information to help readers understand the meaning and significance of the published material. It would also produce key analyses of translated material to enhance the understanding of the governments and political systems it covers.”

几十年来，美国情报界通过中央情报局的外国广播信息服务（FBIS）向公众提供了开源材料。但是，该任务已被美国情报和开源企业（FBIS的继任者）抛弃，完全黑暗as far as the public is concerned.