Ran into this article in the UK newspaper, the Guardian about China's use of Sun Tzu to win the majority of medals at the Chinese Olympics. The article focuses on one aspect of China's strategy: avoiding direct competition with the US:

"It's war by other means, and the Chinese have been very bright," said Francesco Liello, a reporter with La Gazzetta Dello Sport, who has covered three previous Olympics. "I have no doubt that China will get more gold medals than US, but they won't do it by going head-to-head with the US. They understand that they can't compete directly."

However, the article misses several other key aspects of China's approach, including targeting new medal events, a classic example of targeting empty ground.