Unrestricted Warfare - Source of Text

Source of Text

The English translation of the book was made available by the Foreign Broadcast Information Service on the internet in 1999. Reportedly, the United States Naval Academy wrote to the authors to ask for permission to use this book. The book was then published in English by a previously unknown Panamanian publisher, with the subtitle "China's Master Plan to Destroy America" and a picture of the burning World Trade Center on the cover. These additions were thought to be misinterpretations of the text, not intended by the original authors. A French translation was published in 2003.

The text has been cited by the U.S. government, e.g. on a military website by James Perry who states:

In February 1999, the PLA Literature and Arts Publishing House issued Unrestricted Warfare, a book written by two PLA air force political officers, Senior Col Qiao Liang and Senior Col Wang Xiangsui. The venue for publication and the laudatory reviews of the book in official publications suggested that Unrestricted Warfare enjoyed the support of some elements of the PLA leadership. The Western press quoted various sensational passages from the book and described it in terms that verged on hyperbole. The book was not a blueprint for a “dirty war” against the West but a call for innovative thinking on future warfare.