By LCDR Chris Watson, RAN*
This article was first published in the Australian Naval Review, 2019, Issue 2, in December 2019.
‘Ask a question’. Academician Lin Woong pointed at the Zhong Xiao[1] on the third row of the tiered auditorium with its 450 strong audience. The unfortunate individual who wore the uniform of the People’s Liberation Army Navy had fidgeted at the wrong moment. The professor had spoken for an hour and the Q and A had already lasted thirty minutes, but no-one wanted it to finish. The renowned head of the Department of War Theory and Strategic Research, Professor Lin was a tall and distinguished presence. His sole presentation to the course titled ‘Psychology in the Strategy of Warfare’ had drawn a full house among the mid-ranking students in the Beijing Academy of Military Science who now waited to hear the offender’s question.