A Chinese Intelligence Operation in America’s Great Plains?: The meaning of weiqi, the ancient Chinese game of strategy, is ‘encirclement game.’ But in weiqi it isn’t enough to surround enemy stones to capture ground. It’s vital to have some of your stones within enemy territory. When you then lay siege, swathes of the board fall with no fighting. China’s leaders, strategists, and generals swear by Sun Tzu and weiqi: they combine the lessons of the philosopher’s Art of War with principles of the game to win without fighting, deploying long-term plans and deception, skirmishing on many fronts, and creating outposts hidden in plain sight.