Disappointing the Dragon

The Communist Party of China (CPC) is bullying Australia and will not stop until there are hurtful consequences for doing so. This book proposes a sovereign de-escalation strategy that does not depend on investments in ships, submarines, tanks, fighter aircraft, long-range missiles, or the US-Australian alliance. Its focus is on ingenuity rather than firepower. The objective is a return to mutually respectful relations. This is a sophisticated war-preventing, not a war-provoking strategy.

The CPC has chosen to dominate using a grey zone campaign. Suppose peace is the colour ‘white’ and war is figuratively ‘black’. In this case, the CPC’s new way of achieving dominance is a range of coercive, warlike activities in ‘the grey zone’ that escalate through shades of grey between white and black, from non-violent to violent coercion. If political and economic intimidation fails, the destructive tactics of hybrid warfare follow.

It is time to stand up with new national security instruments in the grey zone. If de-escalation fails and war becomes inevitable, these instruments will be ‘game changers’ at home, near region and internationally.