The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road
either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be
neglected. The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into
account in one's deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtained in the
field. These are: (1) The Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth; (4) The Commander; (5)
Method and discipline.
---- Sun Tze on the Art of War
Entering into the 21st century, economic globalization has not only been accelerating the
process of the integration of the world economy but also competition among/between
countries, especially that among big powers. International competition manifests itself
mainly in the dynamic changes in the strategic resources of different countries and the
open competition in the comprehensive national power (Zonghe Guoli). They often
come into conflict with one another and are locked in contention while being complexly
interdependent and interconnected. In the development process, which is quite out of
balance, some countries have grown in national power while others are losing relatively.
It is those changes that have brought about significant changes to the pattern of the world.
The status (or position) of a country in the international community is in essence
associated with the rise and fall of its national power, the increase and decrease of its
strategic resources. This has brought us to such issues as: what is the comprehensive
national power (CNP)? What are strategic resources that make up CNP? What kinds of
strategic resources are more important in the 21st century? What advantages and
disadvantages do China enjoy in strategic resources vis-à-vis other great powers? Where
China stands in the world with regard to CNP? Has it grown or lost in strength over the
past 20 years? How is China’s CNP changing as compared with the United States, Japan,
India and Russia, which are closely associated with China’s national interests and
geopolitical strategy? How should China raise its CNP and how should it make full use
of its advantage strategic resources and constantly improve its disadvantaged strategic
resources? What are the objectives of China’s grand strategy? How to put it into
execution?