A frequent commentator on state-run television outlets, Zhang is known of his successful predictions about the Gulf War and wrong predictions during the CCTV live broadcast of the Iraq War, mainly due to the overestimation of Iraqi military's will to fight and failure to completely understand the American strategy.

The best-known instance was his dramatical denial of the existence of the Chinese stealth fighter J-20 by exaggerating the American technological advantages.

In contrast, he also sometimes expresses a low opinion of U.S. military-political will, with his 2012 assertion that the U.S. would "run like a rabbit" if China went to war with Japan over the Diaoyu Islands being an example.

[2] He also suggested that the PLAN might equip civilian fishing boats for suicide attacks against the United States Navy.

The incident has led Chinese netizens to mockingly refer to Zhang as “Chief of the Strategic Fool-You Agency” (战略忽悠局局座).