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China seeks to export its authoritarian political system around
the world to dominate regions, co-opt or coerce international
organizations, create economic conditions favorable to China
4
alone, and displace democratic institutions. China wants
to dominate Northeast Asia and specifically the Korean
5
peninsula and it is likely to use its “three warfares,” (public
6
opinion, psychological, legal warfare), political warfare, and

4 David Maxwell, “State Department Plays Key Role in New U.S. China Strategy,” Foundation for Defense of
Democracies Policy Brief, June 23, 2020, https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2020/06/23/state-plays-key-role-in-
new-china-strategy/ See also, Caitlin Dearing Scott, “China Expands Global Authoritarian Influence Efforts:
Some Fragile Democracies Show Resilience Against CCP Aggression,” International Republican Institute,
February 3, 2021, https://www.iri.org/resources/china-expands-global-authoritarian-influence-efforts-some-
fragile-democracies-show-resilience-against-ccp-aggression/ See also, Charles Edel and David O. Shullman,
“How China Exports Authoritarianism,” Foreign Affairs, September 16, 2021, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/
articles/china/2021-09-16/how-china-exports-authoritarianism
5 Pieter Zhao, “Chinese Political Warfare: A Strategic Tautology? The Three Warfares and the Centrality of
Political Warfare within Chinese Strategy,” The Strategy Bridge, August 28, 2023, https://thestrategybridge.
org/the-bridge/2023/8/28/chinese-political-warfare-a-strategic-tautology

6 George Kennan, “Policy Analysis Paper, State Department Policy Planning Staff/Council, Subject: The
Inauguration of Organized Political Warfare, 30 April 1948,” National Security Archive, https://nsarchive.gwu.
edu/document/28654-document-10-policy-analysis-paper-state-department-policy-planning-staffcouncil
“Political warfare is the logical application of Clausewitz’s doctrine in time of peace. In broadest definition,
political warfare is the employment of all the means at a nation’s command, short of war, to achieve its
national objectives. Such operations are both overt and covert. They range from such overt actions as
political alliances, economic measures (as ERP--the Marshall Plan), and “white” propaganda to such covert
operations as clandestine support of “friendly” foreign elements, “black” psychological warfare and even
encouragement of underground resistance in hostile states” See Also, Matt Armstrong, “Political warfare:
the obvious choice against our Maginot Line,” Arming for the War We are in, April 19, 2023, https://
mountainrunner.substack.com/p/political-warfare-the-obvious-choice?utm= Political warfare is the
expression of power for hostile intent through discrete, subversive, or overt means, short of open combat,
onto another. It is not mere rivalry or competition, it may have strategic or tactical objectives, and it may
operate in one or more areas—political, societal, economic, psychological, or other—that are available for
exploitation to affect change.

78 Section I : North Korea-China Relations: How and Why Does Beijing Protect and Empower Pyongyang?