India, May 30 -- Despite boasting formidable military capabilities and engaging in loud sabre-rattling, China consistently avoids direct military entanglements, choosing instead a path of deception, diplomacy and economic entrapment

Chinese philosopher, Sun Tzu (author of Art of War) has influenced the thinking and policies of the Chinese leadership, for eons. Amongst his most potent and famous treatise is on the military doctrine of asymmetrical warfare, which is increasingly relevant in a VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous) world of constant churn and dissonance.

One key feature of expansionist China's strategy has been to follow Sun Tzu's very cost-efficient dictum of "subduing the enemy without fighting". Much has been...