The following is a continuation of the preceding chapter.
This chapter discusses the three forms of political warfare pursued by the Chinese Communist Party—the “Three Warfares” of psychological warfare, public opinion warfare and legal warfare—as well as the use of foreign media organizations and intellectuals for external propaganda, the problem of pro-China networks in Japan, and the national security measures Japan would require if instability inside China resulted in a large movement of refugees or illegal entrants toward Japan.
The original text stated that the concept of the “Three Warfares” had been introduced when the Regulations on Political Work of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army were established in 1954.
Although political work has a much longer history within the People’s Liberation Army, the three concepts of public opinion warfare, psychological warfare and legal warfare are generally understood to have been formally incorporated as a unified doctrine when the regulations were revised in 2003.
The United States Department of Defense’s 2024 annual report similarly states that the PLA began developing the “Three Warfares” concept in the early 2000s.
The reference to 1954 has therefore been corrected to 2003 in this republication.
This chapter contains severe criticism of journalists, newspapers, lawyers, Chinese international students, refugees and other groups.
Such passages are presented as the assessments, testimony, suspicions and policy proposals of the participants in the dialogue.
They should not be understood as conclusive proof that any particular individual committed an illegal act or acted on behalf of a foreign government.
Refugee and border-security policy must also not be based on indiscriminate exclusion according to nationality or ethnicity.
It must be founded on strict, lawful and individualized examination of each person’s circumstances, identity, conduct, criminal record and possible security risk.

July 7, 2020
【Prevent an Uncontrolled Refugee Influx】
Bando:
In 2003, the Chinese Communist Party revised the Regulations on Political Work of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and clearly incorporated the concept known as the “Three Warfares.”
The three are psychological warfare, public opinion warfare and legal warfare.
They seek to influence human psychology, shape public opinion, and direct the interpretation and application of law in a manner favorable to the Chinese Communist Party.
Takayama:
Michael Pillsbury published a book titled China 2049, in which he described the Chinese Communist Party’s “Hundred-Year Marathon.”
China had therefore recognized the importance of information warfare from an early stage.
When one reads He Qinglian’s The Fog of Censorship: Media Control in China, published in Japanese as China’s Great Propaganda and translated by Kaori Fukushima, one can see the extent to which Japan has been drawn into China’s influence network.
When China conducts influence operations in other countries, it spends large sums of money in an effort to win over influential people.
Even then, cooperation is not easily obtained.
In Japan, however, people describing themselves as “friends of Japan-China friendship” sometimes take the initiative in participating in Chinese propaganda activities.
One example cited is Katsumi Yokobori, a former Beijing correspondent for the Asahi Shimbun.
After continuing to publish articles favorable to China, he later became the person responsible for the Japanese edition of the People’s Daily.
It has also been alleged that China allowed Kazuo Asami of the Mainichi Shimbun, who reported the so-called “hundred-man killing contest,” to reside permanently in Beijing and enabled his daughter to enter Peking University.
Ieei Akioka, a former head of the Asahi Shimbun’s Beijing bureau who continued to report that Lin Biao was alive after his death in an airplane crash, was appointed as the Japanese representative of the overseas edition of the People’s Daily.
Bando:
Japanese people are extraordinarily trusting.
After the coronavirus pandemic, confrontation between China and the Western countries will undoubtedly intensify.
Japan should coordinate with Europe and the United States in responding to China, but there is one extremely difficult problem.
If China falls into a serious crisis as a result of international confrontation or domestic instability, a large number of refugees may attempt to reach Japan.
It has been claimed that, under favorable current and weather conditions, small vessels leaving Fujian Province might reach Japan’s Pacific coast in approximately seven to ten days.
People may also attempt to enter the country illegally by hiding in ballast tanks or other concealed areas aboard ships.
Takayama:
After the fall of Saigon in 1975, many ethnic Chinese from Vietnam became refugees, producing a large number of boat people.
It was said that many of them arrived on the coast of the Sea of Japan.
When I investigated whether so many vessels had truly drifted all the way from Vietnam, I found claims that a substantial number had actually departed from Fujian Province.
They were allegedly posing as refugee vessels while ultimately attempting to reach the United States.
Bando:
Japan must prepare refugee and illegal-entry measures, including the necessary legal framework.
Screening and border controls should be strengthened while taking into account identity verification, criminal history, security risks and Japan’s relations with states that threaten its sovereignty through territorial-water incursions.
Japan must establish its own clear admission standards in order to protect the lives and property of its citizens.
Those standards, however, must not indiscriminately exclude people solely because of their nationality.
Every person’s circumstances and potential risk must be examined individually and in accordance with law.
Takayama:
I agree with you.
The unrestricted conduct of the Chinese Communist Party government must not be allowed to continue without an effective response.
To borrow the language associated with Yukichi Fukuzawa’s argument about leaving unhealthy relationships in Asia behind, Japan should reconsider its relations with authoritarian states.
It should coordinate with Western countries that share the values of freedom, the rule of law and human rights, while developing adequate defenses against information warfare, territorial incursions, uncontrolled refugee movements and illegal entry.