Classic Form: When an enemy is beset by internal problems, crisis, or disorder—a "burning house"—exploit the chaos to seize assets, territory, or strategic advantage for yourself.
Modern Version: During a global crisis—such as a pandemic, war, or economic collapse—leverage the distraction and instability to acquire critical resources, intellectual property, and market share while other nations are overwhelmed.
AI-Powered Execution: During a global crisis, AI systems are deployed to identify and acquire undervalued assets at scale. This includes using Monte Carlo Tree Search methods for resource screening to pinpoint strategic opportunities, from distressed technology companies with valuable patents to critical mineral stockpiles left vulnerable by supply chain disruptions. The AI can execute these actions or flag them for human operators far faster than a target nation, preoccupied with managing the crisis, can react.
CCP Application: During the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the CCP hoarded personal protective equipment (PPE), then sold it to desperate nations at inflated prices. Simultaneously, it aggressively marketed its surveillance-based public health technology, such as QR health codes and tracking apps, to other countries, using the global health crisis as an opportunity to export its model of social control. State-backed entities also used the economic downturn to attempt opportunistic acquisitions of struggling Western technology firms.
Collaborators: Multinational corporations that, seeing an opportunity, expanded their operations in China during the pandemic, deepening their dependence on the CCP regime. Academics and bureaucrats in the West who used the crisis as a pretext to advocate for and implement CCP-style lockdown policies and surveillance measures. Media outlets that uncritically repeated the CCP's talking points on the virus's origins and its "successful" response, dismissing evidence of a lab leak as a conspiracy theory.
Counter: Harden national supply chains for critical goods such as pharmaceuticals, minerals, and technology to prevent dependency during a crisis. Establish protocols to monitor and block opportunistic foreign acquisitions of strategic assets during national emergencies. When panic spreads, the first response should be to slow down, secure core assets, and analyze who stands to gain from the chaos.