The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) employs hybrid warfare and gray zone tactics that are both insidious and effective. Aligned with its whole-of-society approach, these methods integrate political, economic, and military instruments, are well resourced, and remain difficult to attribute or counter directly.i From militarized distant water fishing fleets to cyber-enabled influence operations, the CCP conducts sustained campaigns abroad below the threshold of open conflict. More concerning than the scale of its dual-use and civilian capabilities is the potential to amplify hybrid effects by exploiting natural disasters – an eventuality for which the US is not prepared. Rather than waiting for a return to stability, future conflicts may be initiated amid the chaos of a crisis.
