How Sun Tzu might have responded to the Trump-Xi summit |
How Sun Tzu might have responded to the Trump-Xi summit
For those not familiar with Sun Tzu, he was a famous Chinese strategist and military philosopher living between 400-600 B.C.E. His most important book, “The Art of War,” is the ancient companion to Karl Von Clausewitz’s modern masterpiece “On War.”
Sun’s most interesting pieces of advice were that the best way to win was “without fighting” and that “all warfare is based on deception.”
The reactions to the summit in Chine between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping were divided in the U.S. along party lines. The general observation was that the summit’s atmospherics were clearly fine. But little of substance was achieved, and the main issues over Taiwan, Iran and trade remained unaltered or affected.
If Sun Tzu were alive, what would have been his reaction to the summit?
Over the 40 years of visits to China up until COVID-19, the first usual item was a harangue over Taiwan. After I attended one or two trips upon invitations from senior chinese officials for discussions and lectures at their National Defense Universiy, my reaction was to put my hands over my ears and say enough is enough — let’s go on. My Chinese hosts would comply, having made their point.
But Sun Tzu would say that today is different for two reasons.
First, China now has substantial military capability that three U.S. administrations have believed could lead to an invasion of Taiwan as soon as 2027. Second, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company produces virtually all the chips used globally. A war that destroyed........