The CCP’s Unrestricted Warfare Strategy: Part 1
Udumbara
If the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) didn’t exist, there would only be two types of warfare: hot war and cold war.
Throughout history, warfare—whether hot or cold—has generally maintained certain boundaries and rules, such as those in the Geneva and Vienna Conventions. These mechanisms may be imperfect, but they reflect a shared human constraint on the conduct of war.
But with the rise of the CCP, a third form of warfare emerged: unrestricted warfare. Breaking through all traditional boundaries and rules of war, it aims solely for the total destruction of its adversary by any means necessary.
In 1999, two People’s Liberation Army officers—Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui—published the book “Unrestricted Warfare,” which, for the first time, defined and explored this concept. Their definition of “unrestricted” is chilling.
“The term ‘unrestricted’ refers to transcending all things considered or understood as boundaries—whether physical, mental, or technological—and regardless of whether they are referred to as limits, constraints, borders, rules, laws, extremes, or even taboos,” according to a translation of the Chinese text.
In other words, the CCP’s concept of “unrestricted warfare” aims not only to dismantle the conventional rules and limits of warfare but also to erode the ethical and moral pillars that uphold civil society, with the ultimate goal of destroying the enemy.
‘Super Spy’ as a Disposable Tool
Although the Soviet Union was one of the CCP’s early mentors, it is not the originator of unrestricted warfare, and the Chinese regime’s espionage practices are fundamentally different. A striking example is the 1985 Larry Wu-Tai Chin case, which sent shockwaves through the U.S. intelligence community.The now-deceased Chin, who was a longtime CIA translator and analyst with access to top-secret materials, had been passing highly sensitive intelligence to China for more than three decades. His espionage activities spanned from the Korean War in the 1950s—when he provided information on prisoner-of-war camps—to the 1970s, when his leaks enabled Beijing to anticipate and strategically respond to major U.S. diplomatic initiatives, including President Richard Nixon’s historic opening to China.
As a highly placed “super spy” who served the CCP with absolute loyalty, Chin may have firmly believed that the Party would remember and reward him for his significant contributions. Yet after his arrest, the CCP denied any association with him, treating him as nothing more than a disposable asset. Chin maintained a Hong Kong bank account with about $100,000 earned from selling intelligence, but once he was caught by U.S. authorities, the CCP immediately froze the account.
Three months after his arrest—possibly realizing that the CCP had completely abandoned him—Chin was found dead in his prison cell. It appeared that he had suffocated himself with a plastic garbage bag secured with shoelaces.
Fentanyl War: Negotiations as Mere Tactical Deception
The CCP’s fentanyl war against the United States is yet another example.
The Trump administration sought to pressure Beijing into negotiations by imposing tariffs, hoping to resolve the issue through dialogue. However, the CCP preferred to endure high tariffs rather than acknowledge any responsibility for the fentanyl crisis in the United States. This reflects the same logic behind its refusal to recognize Larry Wu-Tai Chin—a clear demonstration of the CCP’s “unrestricted warfare” mindset.
On April 16, 2024, the U.S. House Select Committee on the CCP released a report stating that the CCP regime encourages the illegal trade of fentanyl precursors by offering tax rebates and other subsidies to Chinese manufacturers.
“Through its actions, as our report has revealed, the Chinese Communist Party is telling us that it wants more fentanyl entering our country,” said then-Rep. Mike Gallagher, who was also the Republican chairman of the committee at the time. “It wants the chaos and devastation that has resulted from the epidemic.”
“In my opinion, the CCP [has] used it as a directed approach because we are their adversary. And their long-term game is, ‘how do I,’ in my opinion, ‘kneecap the United States of America, our largest adversary?’” Patel said.
The confrontation with the CCP represents an ongoing asymmetric, invisible war. It is asymmetric because the United States cannot counter it with equivalent means, and the CCP constantly breaks the rules.
For instance, although the United States can require certain fentanyl precursor chemicals to be subject to export controls, CCP-backed manufacturers often add “masking” molecules to the precursors to evade detection.
At its core, this is not ordinary drug trafficking driven by profit, but an evil regime’s unrestricted warfare aimed at the destruction of the United States. There is no way America can stop it through conventional drug control policies.
The CCP’s so-called negotiations are merely stalling tactics designed to deceive opponents and drain their time and energy by entangling them in endless diplomatic procedures. This gives the CCP more time to continue exporting addictive drugs and preparing for other destructive actions.
Historically, negotiations with the CCP have failed to address fundamental issues. For example, the Six-Party Talks aimed at North Korea’s nuclear program ultimately led to an increase in nuclear weapons and longer missile ranges. Similarly, the U.S.–China Phase One trade deal during President Donald Trump’s first term did not resolve underlying issues. Instead, these talks have often served as a façade for the CCP’s strategy of unrestricted warfare.
