John F Sullivan
@johnfsullivan.bsky.social
Former U.S. Army China Foreign Area Officer currently studying ancient Chinese military & strategic texts and arguing for the need to study and debate them more broadly within our own military PME and academic institutions.
While Kissinger remains the most famous modern American strategist within the name dropping set in China, amongst serious Chinese strategic thinkers, Zbigniew Brzezinski, and particularly this 1997 book of his, appears to be much more influential in their own writings.
November 9, 2025 at 10:12 PM
While Kissinger remains the most famous modern American strategist within the name dropping set in China, amongst serious Chinese strategic thinkers, Zbigniew Brzezinski, and particularly this 1997 book of his, appears to be much more influential in their own writings.
Liu Huaqing (2001): “Defense development is a gradual accumulation process. We cannot ignore it for a decade or two and then rush to address it when funds are available. Many development projects have long cycles, and if we don’t prioritize key projects, the gap will widen.”
November 2, 2025 at 7:13 AM
Liu Huaqing (2001): “Defense development is a gradual accumulation process. We cannot ignore it for a decade or two and then rush to address it when funds are available. Many development projects have long cycles, and if we don’t prioritize key projects, the gap will widen.”
“Comprehensive national power competition strategy is to compel adversaries not to take military action against oneself while striving to achieve predetermined strategic objectives through non-war means. It uses strength as the material foundation for deterring adversaries. It emphasizes defeating …
November 1, 2025 at 9:23 PM
“Comprehensive national power competition strategy is to compel adversaries not to take military action against oneself while striving to achieve predetermined strategic objectives through non-war means. It uses strength as the material foundation for deterring adversaries. It emphasizes defeating …
Wang Huning (1994): “Marxism first asserts that a communist society is an objective necessity, not a subjective desire of individuals. The internal driving force of historical development & the contradictory movement of various social relations inevitably lead to realization of a communist society.
September 9, 2025 at 8:22 AM
Wang Huning (1994): “Marxism first asserts that a communist society is an objective necessity, not a subjective desire of individuals. The internal driving force of historical development & the contradictory movement of various social relations inevitably lead to realization of a communist society.
"If a situation arises during combat where the military commander and the political commissar have differing opinions, the responsibility falls to the one whose role pertains to the issue [and] anyone at any time has the right to report the situation to a higher organization."
September 3, 2025 at 4:33 PM
"If a situation arises during combat where the military commander and the political commissar have differing opinions, the responsibility falls to the one whose role pertains to the issue [and] anyone at any time has the right to report the situation to a higher organization."
"The division of responsibilities among commanders specifically means that, under the unified collective leadership of the Party committee, military administrative issues are handled by the mil. commander, while political work is organized and implemented by the pol. commissar."
September 3, 2025 at 4:33 PM
"The division of responsibilities among commanders specifically means that, under the unified collective leadership of the Party committee, military administrative issues are handled by the mil. commander, while political work is organized and implemented by the pol. commissar."
“What if, during combat, the division commander orders to go east, but the political commissar orders to go west?”
An explanation of the roles of the operational commander & political commissar within PLA ranks from a 2000 book, "Heart-to-Heart Talks with Leading Cadres" ...
An explanation of the roles of the operational commander & political commissar within PLA ranks from a 2000 book, "Heart-to-Heart Talks with Leading Cadres" ...
September 3, 2025 at 4:33 PM
“What if, during combat, the division commander orders to go east, but the political commissar orders to go west?”
An explanation of the roles of the operational commander & political commissar within PLA ranks from a 2000 book, "Heart-to-Heart Talks with Leading Cadres" ...
An explanation of the roles of the operational commander & political commissar within PLA ranks from a 2000 book, "Heart-to-Heart Talks with Leading Cadres" ...
You then start seeing it seep into military doctrine. The first version of the Science of Military Strategy (1987), makes no reference to CNP, but the 1999 version starts including it, and every subsequent update to the text discusses CNP as the basis for strategic competition.
August 26, 2025 at 6:15 PM
You then start seeing it seep into military doctrine. The first version of the Science of Military Strategy (1987), makes no reference to CNP, but the 1999 version starts including it, and every subsequent update to the text discusses CNP as the basis for strategic competition.
Or Wu Chunqiu's book on how CNP can be applied at the highest strategic levels: "Building and employing CNP to achieve grand strategy objectives is the core content of grand strategy and one of its fundamental characteristics distinguishing it from other strategies."
August 26, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Or Wu Chunqiu's book on how CNP can be applied at the highest strategic levels: "Building and employing CNP to achieve grand strategy objectives is the core content of grand strategy and one of its fundamental characteristics distinguishing it from other strategies."
Following this text from these three members of the Academy of Military Science (AMS) you start seeing a lot more theoretical work coming out of AMS on this subject. For example, Huang Shuofeng's extensive study on both the components of CNP and the math necessary to calculate it
August 26, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Following this text from these three members of the Academy of Military Science (AMS) you start seeing a lot more theoretical work coming out of AMS on this subject. For example, Huang Shuofeng's extensive study on both the components of CNP and the math necessary to calculate it
There are also collective military writings from other prominent PLA figures not named Mao that should be translated and further studied. These figures and their writings still influence contemporary PLA thinking, but rarely get discussed in the West because we have limited ability to access them.
August 17, 2025 at 9:09 PM
There are also collective military writings from other prominent PLA figures not named Mao that should be translated and further studied. These figures and their writings still influence contemporary PLA thinking, but rarely get discussed in the West because we have limited ability to access them.
Much like in the West, there is also a ton of mediocre & uninteresting works, but there is more than enough good material produced in China that we should at least take seriously & study more systematically. To date though, there has been little demand signal to translate any.
August 17, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Much like in the West, there is also a ton of mediocre & uninteresting works, but there is more than enough good material produced in China that we should at least take seriously & study more systematically. To date though, there has been little demand signal to translate any.
China has their own equivalents to military strategy academics like Michael Howard and Colin Gray, but because we don't bother translating anything beyond a few niche texts we continue to think everything about Chinese strategy can be gleaned from Sun Tzu, Mao, and Unrestricted Warfare …
August 17, 2025 at 9:03 PM
China has their own equivalents to military strategy academics like Michael Howard and Colin Gray, but because we don't bother translating anything beyond a few niche texts we continue to think everything about Chinese strategy can be gleaned from Sun Tzu, Mao, and Unrestricted Warfare …
From one of 67 speeches delivered from 2012-2017 found in the book “Xi Jinping on Strengthening and Reviving the Military” —an internal (neibu) document meant for PLA regiment and above commanders only.
August 16, 2025 at 5:13 AM
From one of 67 speeches delivered from 2012-2017 found in the book “Xi Jinping on Strengthening and Reviving the Military” —an internal (neibu) document meant for PLA regiment and above commanders only.
suffer setbacks in maritime rights how can we face our nation and our ancestors? Focus all our thoughts on warfighting, direct all our efforts toward warfighting and ensure that the troops can be summoned, fight when called, and win decisively."
-- "On the Issue of War Guidance"
-- "On the Issue of War Guidance"
August 16, 2025 at 5:11 AM
suffer setbacks in maritime rights how can we face our nation and our ancestors? Focus all our thoughts on warfighting, direct all our efforts toward warfighting and ensure that the troops can be summoned, fight when called, and win decisively."
-- "On the Issue of War Guidance"
-- "On the Issue of War Guidance"
Xi Jinping (2013): "Our country's national interests have greatly expanded and our security and development are more closely linked to the outside world. Any disturbance in the international arena could affect our security, particularly the security of our overseas interests ...
August 16, 2025 at 5:11 AM
Xi Jinping (2013): "Our country's national interests have greatly expanded and our security and development are more closely linked to the outside world. Any disturbance in the international arena could affect our security, particularly the security of our overseas interests ...
It's extremely dense and theoretical material, but it is also relatively well-written and you can clearly see its influences in the Marxist ideology being put forth in Xi Jinping Thought. It is worth careful study if we want some insight into the foundation of curent CCP thinking.
August 3, 2025 at 10:43 PM
It's extremely dense and theoretical material, but it is also relatively well-written and you can clearly see its influences in the Marxist ideology being put forth in Xi Jinping Thought. It is worth careful study if we want some insight into the foundation of curent CCP thinking.
Technically the book is a group effort, but Wang was its lead editor and authored its opening two and closing chapters. It is also massive, clocking in at over half a million characters. It is organized around 15 Marxist "principles" which each merit their own detailed chapter.
August 3, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Technically the book is a group effort, but Wang was its lead editor and authored its opening two and closing chapters. It is also massive, clocking in at over half a million characters. It is organized around 15 Marxist "principles" which each merit their own detailed chapter.
On the one hand we lament that what CCP leadership thinks is an unknowable black box, yet on the other hand we’ve never even bothered to translate Wang Huning’s magnum opus on the principles of Marxist political thought, a work that heavily influenced Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, & Xi Jinping …
August 3, 2025 at 10:43 PM
On the one hand we lament that what CCP leadership thinks is an unknowable black box, yet on the other hand we’ve never even bothered to translate Wang Huning’s magnum opus on the principles of Marxist political thought, a work that heavily influenced Jiang Zemin, Hu Jintao, & Xi Jinping …
Xi’s comments were made in a July 29, 2013 speech he made to the senior officers of the Beijing Military Region titled “Focus on Achieving the Party’s Strong Military Goal Under New Circumstances and
Comprehensively Strengthen Military Construction.”
Comprehensively Strengthen Military Construction.”
July 26, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Xi’s comments were made in a July 29, 2013 speech he made to the senior officers of the Beijing Military Region titled “Focus on Achieving the Party’s Strong Military Goal Under New Circumstances and
Comprehensively Strengthen Military Construction.”
Comprehensively Strengthen Military Construction.”
and generally contrasts it with the fall of the Soviet Union when the military failed to defend the crumbling Soviet regime. It remains a seminal event and warning which they continue to reference internally, but not one they are willing to debate or commemorate openly.
July 26, 2025 at 8:57 PM
and generally contrasts it with the fall of the Soviet Union when the military failed to defend the crumbling Soviet regime. It remains a seminal event and warning which they continue to reference internally, but not one they are willing to debate or commemorate openly.
Xi Jinping doesn’t publicly acknowledges the June 4th Tiananmen crackdown, but in internal speeches to his military leaders he does bring it up as an example where the PLA was severely tested & passed. He usually refers to it as the “political turmoil (政治风波) in spring of 1989
July 26, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Xi Jinping doesn’t publicly acknowledges the June 4th Tiananmen crackdown, but in internal speeches to his military leaders he does bring it up as an example where the PLA was severely tested & passed. He usually refers to it as the “political turmoil (政治风波) in spring of 1989
The king invites the praised governor ostensibly to honor him, but according to Sima Guang’s account “boils him alive, along with the ministers who had praised him. As a result the vassals were filled with fear, none dared to engage in deceit, and all exerted themselves honestly”
June 7, 2025 at 6:42 PM
The king invites the praised governor ostensibly to honor him, but according to Sima Guang’s account “boils him alive, along with the ministers who had praised him. As a result the vassals were filled with fear, none dared to engage in deceit, and all exerted themselves honestly”
King Wei of Qi had two governors—one praised to the sky by the king's ministers, the other ceaselessly vilified by the same officials. He dispatches trusted aides to discover the reason. The vilified governor runs an efficient domain, the praised governor runs a decrepit one ...
June 7, 2025 at 6:42 PM
King Wei of Qi had two governors—one praised to the sky by the king's ministers, the other ceaselessly vilified by the same officials. He dispatches trusted aides to discover the reason. The vilified governor runs an efficient domain, the praised governor runs a decrepit one ...
If you have a better source covering Warring States era iron smelting and carbonized steel technology, by all means continue to reference that, but for the rest of us, Yang Kuan's book is the only window we have into this and many other interesting topics.
May 31, 2025 at 5:00 PM
If you have a better source covering Warring States era iron smelting and carbonized steel technology, by all means continue to reference that, but for the rest of us, Yang Kuan's book is the only window we have into this and many other interesting topics.