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Current Affairs

Why China’s military is laser-focused on ‘disruptive’ technologies

Having marked its 99th anniversary on August 1, the People’s Liberation Army is now just a year away from its centenary goals, with its evolution…

By Samantha Johnson / August 4, 2026
Having marked its 99th anniversary on August 1, the People’s Liberation Army is now just a year away from its centenary goals, with its evolution highlighting the past, present and future of China’s military strategy. In the fourth part of a series, Amber Wang looks at the PLA’s pursuit of emerging technologies.

In an influential book published nearly three decades ago, a PLA military strategist argued that China should not try to match the US weapon for weapon but instead develop asymmetric advantages against its stronger rival.

Qiao Liang drew lessons from America’s victory in the Gulf War in the book, Unrestricted Warfare. He noted that warfare was entering an informationised era and that China was clearly lagging behind the United States.

Qiao – who co-authored the book with Wang Xiangsui – also said finance, cyberspace and psychological operations would be important in future wars.

“We don’t necessarily need to have what the US has,” Qiao wrote, back in 1999. “We need to have what it doesn’t.”

In the years since then, the book has drawn significant attention in Western military circles and has been studied at the US Military Academy in West Point, New York as part of broader discussions on Chinese strategic thinking.

It also continues to resonate among military strategists in China, as the People’s Liberation Army pursues emerging and “disruptive” technologies as part of its modernisation efforts – from artificial intelligence and quantum tech to hypersonic weapons and directed-energy systems.

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