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US-China relations
ChinaMilitary

When China’s military lagged behind US, it pursued an ‘assassin’s mace’ tactic. Smart weaponry and AI are changing that

  • China’s focus on versatility, such as autonomous vehicles and AI-equipped weapons, is in contrast to weapons designed for asymmetrical warfare
  • ‘Right now they’re like little sprinklings of AI that are coming into different military systems’ on both Chinese and US sides, says research fellow

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
Jack Lau
China’s military, under the command of President Xi Jinping, has faced increasing global scrutiny amid rising tensions with the United States and in other geopolitical hotspots. This, the first story in a three-part series, examines how Beijing’s new-found focus on smart and AI-powered weaponry has Washington worried.
The Chinese military raised eyebrows in Washington with its “assassin’s mace” weapons that aimed to blunt the United States’ cutting-edge advantage at a time when Beijing’s technology trailed behind its competitor.

The term, which refers to a weapon from ancient Chinese folklore that targets an enemy’s fatal weakness, has been applied by Chinese state media to the “carrier killer” DF-21D anti-ship ballistic missile that debuted in 2015 and by American military analysts to describe sea mines more than a decade ago.

It is a war concept not confined to China, having been deployed to target or exploit a bigger opponent’s weakness throughout history and across the world.

But the concept of individual and specific weapons for use in asymmetrical warfare – in which one side is perceived to be far stronger than the other – may have fallen out of favour in Beijing, particularly since the Chinese military has developed more sophisticated mechanisms and logistics and in an era of smart armaments.

As the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) technological ambition has grown, especially under current leader President Xi Jinping, Beijing is broadening its military technology focus to advances that can be used across different combat situations, such as employing artificial intelligence, autonomous cars and aircraft, and electronic warfare that disrupts enemy equipment using the electromagnetic spectrum.

The United States is also paying attention to the shift in focus. US officials say their country must harness the power of American industry to compete against Beijing in these general-purpose, cutting-edge military technologies.

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Modernising China’s military
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