Sure enough, the spy takes the bait. He reports where the
Americans are showing the front line and the HQ Staff figures that their map
must be in error and orders the troops to pull back behind the ‘true’ font
line.
Obviously Catch 22 was required reading for the PRC
Strategic Influence Operations team. According to the Bangkok post of 29 March,
the Indonesians are protesting the map that the PRC is using on its passports.
(see http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/342996/indonesia-made-china-passport-complaint
which is also the photo source.)
The Chinese are masters of nuance and have been for
thousands of years. By printing their perception of borders the Chinese have
cleverly managed to tick off one of their Asian neighbors.
Assuming that the move was intentional, this illustrates how
the Chinese leadership, department of state and other ministries have all
cooperated to influence the outside world at little or no cost. Something that
perhaps we could all learn from.
It's not just Indonesia who are unhappy about the maps in the passports - India is unhappy too. Seems that they've been quite successful in mobilizing anti-China sentiment.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-20459064