Chinese leader Xi Jinping has signed a directive allowing non-war uses of the military, prompting concerns that Beijing may be gearing up to invade the democratic island of Taiwan under the guise of a "special operation" not classified as war.[…] "[It] provides a legal basis for non-war military operation," it said. Among the six-chapter document's stated aims are "maintaining national sovereignty ... regional stability and regulating the organization and implementation of non-war military operations," it said.2022 June 13, Hwang Chun-mei, “Chinese leader Xi Jinping signs new rules governing 'non-war' military operations”, in Luisetta Mudie, transl., edited by Luisetta Mudie, Radio Free Asia, archived from the original on 14 Jun 2022:
nonwar
noun
Etymology From non- + war.
1
A situation that is not a war (but possibly resembles one).
Several specific nonwars are in their own way even more extraordinary than the one that has taken place between the United States and the Soviet Union.2008, Richard K. Betts, Conflict after the Cold War: arguments on causes of war and peace, page 226: