In the most recent version of the Defense Department's annual report to Congress on "The Military Power of the People's Republic of China" (PDF), after a few paragraphs on anti-satellite weapons that quote Colonel Yuan Zelu as explaining that "[The] goal of a space shock and awe strike is [to] deter the enemy, not to provoke the enemy into combat," we find a section under the heading "Information Warfare." Apparently "a November 2006 Liberation Army Daily commentator" wrote about the importance of getting "the upper hand of the enemy in a war under conditions of informatization"; this objective requires "making full use of the permeability, sharable property [Napster?!], and connection of information to realize the organic merging of materials, energy, and information to form a combined fighting strength." The term "information blockade" gets tossed about. This is no small beer: the People's Liberation Army sees "computer network operations...as critical to achieving 'electromagnetic dominance' early in a conflict."
Perhaps we shouldn't worry about China's quest for electromagnetic dominance. After all, America still pwnz0rz the internet, right? Maybe, but this (coincidental?) juxtaposition gives some cause for concern:
It's no wonder that China is free to seek "cyber edge" when NO ONE HAS TAKEN THE TIME TO UNDERSTAND WHAT BLOGGING REALLY IS.
Take some time today, people. Your country needs you.
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