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Winning Without Fighting: Chinese Legal Warfare

The Heritage Foundation

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Over the past decade, many nations have demonstrated a growing interest in legal warfare or “lawfare.” In the United States, lawfare discussions are focusing on the interplay between the law and counterinsurgency operations. Specifically, the U.S. is concerned that opponents, especially insurgents, may employ legal means to secure victories that they cannot obtain on the battlefield.

The People’s Republic of China (PRC), and, in particular, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), is approaching lawfare from a different perspective: as an offensive weapon capable of hamstringing opponents and seizing the political initiative in wartime.

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