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An Analysis of Xi’s Recent Performance on US Relations
He Qinglian
He Qinglian has written an opinion piece in the Epoch Times (behind the paywall) presenting CCP President and Chairman Xi Jinping’s recent performance regarding relations with the United States, and she provides some interesting insights.
She opens with:
In the past month, the United States has taken a series of harsh measures against China, which Beijing could hardly counter effectively. However, it was not until the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston that Beijing finally realized the deterioration of U.S.-China relations was now irreversible.
I would have thought that the irreversibility was triggered with Xi’s decision to spread Covid-19 internationally rather than contain it in Wuhan when he had the opportunity, but China was hearing from their political and academic contacts in the United States that all would be well as soon as Trump was out of office. All through the season of revelations of our debauched universities and Xi’s “wolf warrior” diplomacy rippling across the world and unwittingly prompting major reversals for China like the UKs decision to stop purchases and start replacing Huawei equipment in their infrastructure, India’s decision to ban Chinese apps and the brazen and ludicrous military attack by China into Indian territory resulting in a warming of US-India relations, US statements that the presence of compromised Chinese equipment of the sort represented by Huawei’s 5G network offerings on allied infrastructure would become a barrier to the sharing of classified information by the US, increasingly aggressive CCP moves in the South China Sea driving Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam closer together in the region, and so on.
But until the Houston consulate was ordered out for mass spying on academic and industrial projects, as well as classified government projects, Xi and friends were still telling themselves that Biden would save their bacon. And he still might. But the depth and the breadth of the CCP corruption of our institutions is starting to come to light, China’s unfavorability rating has risen from 47% in 2018 to 73% in a poll published by Pew in July.
He identifies Xi’s two big mistakes as interfering in the US elections and CCP deceptions with regard to Corona-19:
Xi’s first mistake was to attempt interfering with the U.S. elections. This is not an impromptu idea of Beijing’s top leaders, but a decision based on careful planning.
Soon after President Donald Trump launched a trade war with China in late March 2018, the U.S. think tank Brookings Institution published a research paper, “How China’s proposed tariffs could affect US workers and industries.”
The authors studied the local impact of two lists of retaliatory tariffs proposed by China, going as detailed as the county level. “The Chinese tariff lists seem optimally designed to especially agitate President Trump’s red-state base,” the report said. “After all, of the 2,742 counties with employment in the industries potentially impacted by the current Chinese tariffs, 2,247 (82 percent) of those counties voted for Trump in 2016, while just 439 (18 percent) supported Clinton.”
Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture clearly showed that tariff increases on pork and soy products alone would have a huge impact on the red states in the Midwest. During the 2016 U.S. presidential election, among the top ten soy- and pork-exporting states, eight voted for President Trump. Those eight states were Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio (a major swing state), and Oklahoma. (Illinois and Minnesota voted for Hilary Clinton.)
Although we don’t know the motives behind the Brookings Institution’s release of such a report, it indeed provided a strong basis for Beijing to come up with its “waiting for favorable change” strategy. In addition, the pro-China elites in U.S. political, business, academic, and media circles would certainly tell Beijing that, as long as Trump loses reelection, U.S.-China relations will continue along the original track.
Chinese leaders felt very confident with their trade war strategy. In addition, the U.S. mainstream media and the Democratic Party gave China more confidence with their supportive actions.
…
In addition to hurting the economy of pro-Trump states, Beijing also intervened in the U.S. election in other ways.
The U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee has been investigating the threat of China’s interference in the U.S. election for several months, and has accelerated the pace of its investigation, with the 2020 election rapidly approaching.
On July 28, the committee held a hearing on this issue. Several U.S. intelligence officials issued warnings about China’s improvement in its ability to interfere in American politics. Some of the main concerns were the following: China is advancing its ability to interfere in U.S. local electoral systems and to influence members of Congress engaging in China policies; China is trying to disrupt private communications among U.S. politicians and all relevant candidates; and China has demonstrated the technical ability to establish political propaganda networks on American social media platforms, some of which have gone so far as to the point of disseminating false information.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced at a press conference on Aug. 5 that “the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the identification or location of any person who, acting at the direction or under the control of a foreign government, interferes with U.S. elections by engaging in certain criminal cyber activities.”
…
Why did China decide to interfere in U.S. internal political affairs, especially the presidential election?
In short, there are two reasons:
One, interfering in other countries’ internal affairs is the CCP’s political tradition.
By exporting revolutions to the world, the CCP supports political opposition forces and helps them overthrow their ruling parties. This was a political tradition formed as early as during the Mao Zedong era. It is particularly evident in Southeast Asian countries, where Beijing exploited overseas Chinese organizations, schools, and consortia to achieve its agendas. These actions triggered anti-Chinese campaigns in Southeast Asian countries several decades ago.
Secondly, as early as the 1950s, Mao was very wary of the “peaceful evolution” approach proposed by the United States and countered it with a series of strategic policies.
To make a long story short, in the 1950s, U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles formally proposed a “peaceful evolution” strategy to target the Soviet Union. He pointed out that “liberation [of people in socialist countries] can be achieved through means other than war.” He expressed satisfaction with the “liberalization-demanding forces” which had emerged in some socialist countries, and placed his hope on the third and fourth generations within socialist countries.
Mao scoffed at Dulles’ theory. Since then, the CCP has paid full attention to every attempt and move toward “peaceful evolution” from western countries. China’s economic reform movement in the 1980s does not mean the CCP has ever slacked off in this respect. The only difference is that the CCP stopped using the term “Cold War.” Instead, it frequently accuses the United States and other countries of inciting “color revolutions” (in reference to uprisings in Ukraine and the Arab Spring) instead.
At the same time, the United States’ internal politics has undergone profound changes after the Cold War. Leftists have been infiltrating the education sector for a long time and almost succeeded in “color revolution” within the United States itself. In this process, what role did China’s all-encompassing penetration into the United States play? It has been going on for decades, but Americans have just begun to look into it.
If Trump had never been elected president, the Houston consulate would have rolled on forever, empowering the world’s biggest slave master on the backs of American know-how. And does anyone really believe that the well funded Communist Insurrection employing tactics pioneered by Mao Zedong underway in our cities at the same time is a coincidence? It is difficult to point a finger at the CCP when Amazon and Facebook and Google and the Ford Foundation are tripping over each other to shovel tens of millions of dollars into the Communist anarchists gutting our cities while Democrat governors and mayors take their orders, but if there is a CCP connection US Attorney General Barr will find it.
In the meantime, corporate America, pay for something and you get more of it. And the people who are murdered, robbed, burned out, raped, or beaten on your dime might never buy a Ford or an Alexa again. Xi is a mad dog, what’s your excuse?
Published in Foreign Policy
Don’t forget the stinkin’ NBA. I’m done with them.
China seems to have assumed an extremely materialistic basis for decisions on the part of Trump’s rural supporters in ag country in 2018, despite three years of shrieking by Democrats and their backers in the media about how dangerous Trump’s nationalism was, and that of his supporters. The idea seems to be if China imposed high tariffs on U.S. ag products, the materialism of producers would turn them against Trump, as opposed to their support of nationalism causing them to put the blame for their lost revenues on the Chinese leadership.
That hasn’t worked out so hot, and Xi’s ensuing 2019 actions in Hong Kong, followed by China hiding the severity of the coronavirus and lying about its origins until it was too late to contain the spread, has only served to harden the feelings of those people against China, and expanded those feelings even past Trump supporters. Not a good strategy, though I’m assuming they’re still hoping Biden bails them out, and justifies all the $$$ they paid Hunter for his make-work job. (China’s belief that their anti-farm actions would rebound against Trump also sort of mirrors the actions of the Democrats in the U.S. right now, in terms of both the refusal to contain the worst of the rioting and the more draconian COVID-19 restrictions in Blue states. In both cases, they seem to feel their actions or inactions done very publicly and designed to lower peoples’ incomes and their quality-of-life will somehow rebound against Trump, as if people will suffer a collective round of Stockholm Syndrome and identify with the cause of their tormentors. Doesn’t seem like a winning move to me, but we’ll see what the voters think come November).
Make China a pariah. Fuse Biden and China in the public mind. That has to be a major theme of the Trump 2020 campaign.
I really have to question AG Barr. He can give a good talk here or there but “where’s the beef of indictments”?
Kevin Clinesmith the only Russian Hoax perp that has been indicted so far was given a ridiculously lenient plea deal where he will be given only 0-6 months jail time ( not a felony) for wholesale fraud and a $250,000 fine that will be paid by Soros in the end. You have got to be kidding me. This is not even in the Universe of being acceptable. This is an open invitation to wholesale government abuse by the Deep State.
Then we have announced the investigation announced today of Steve Bannon and his partner exiled Chinese Businessman Guo Wengei by the DOJ and the FBI.
Their real apparent crimes are described in the WSJ via Zerohedge:
“Guo, a wealthy Chinese businessman who fled the country in 2014 now lives in the United States, launched an aggressive campaign in 2017 to expose corruption by China’s business and political elites. As one might suspect, this triggered Beijing, which has attempted to have Guo extradited on charges which include bribery, kidnapping, fraud, money laundering and rape. Guo calls the charges part of a ‘misinformation campaign’ against him by CCP officials.”
“According to the report, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo have frozen accounts linked to GTV, while Bank of America has closed an account for GTV’s parent company shortly after it was opened. The Journal claims that some investors began to push for refunds – claiming they never received official documentation verifying their investment in GTV Media. The SEC is reportedly reaching out to conduct interviews with investors who want refunds, some of whom have lodged complaints against Guo and his associates, according to the report.”
“GTV Media said in a statement that it carried out the private placement using legal guidance, and that “all of the raised funds are intact.” Moreover, they stand fully prepared to cooperate with any US agency that has questions about the private placement.”
Gee, after nearly four years after their very historically unbelievably serious and treasonous crimes were well known, Brennan, Comey, Mueller, Clapper et al are all running around free and making lucrative book deals, while Steve Bannon and Guo Wenger are threatened in a very short order with serious crimes apparently for angering the Deep State patron China.
The details of Clinesmith’s situation is unclear, but from what is know I expect that he has been or will certainly be disbarred, he separated from the FBI last September and will likely never work in government or law enforcement again barring extraordinary action by the opposition, his federal pension is likely history, and he may have cooperated beyond what is currently known.
In the current job market he will have difficulties. And he is radioactive, anyone doing him favors will receive unwanted attention. Even Soros would like to avoid being connected with the corruption of an FBI attorney.
Not if they’re paying attention.
I am amazed he didn’t just wait out the Trump Administration, hoping for it to end in January.
Obviously all charges against him would be dropped by an incoming Democratic administration. Heck, they might give him a medal!
It would be great if the plea bargain required him to testify against other FBI miscreants, but I’m not holding my breath.
Sisyphus:
“The details of Clinesmith’s situation is unclear, but from what is know I expect that he has been or will certainly be disbarred, he separated from the FBI last September and will likely never work in government or law enforcement again barring extraordinary action by the opposition, his federal pension is likely history, and he may have cooperated beyond what is currently known.
In the current job market he will have difficulties. And he is radioactive, anyone doing him favors will receive unwanted attention. Even Soros would like to avoid being connected with the corruption of an FBI attorney.”
Many of the worst Russian Hoax perps ended up with lucrative jobs on MSNBC or CNN. Clinesmith will be no different. He is a hero to the Totalitarian Left and will be treated as such.
Meanwhile Steve Bannon was hit with a $25million bail demand. Hillary for far worse – zip.
If this is allowed to stand we no longer operate under the Rule of Law. Barr appears to be just a stooge of the Left and will make clever noises on how terrible the Russian Hoax is but when the chips are down he caves to the Left so fast it makes your head spin. How can anyone expect any sort of justice anymore?
I’m going to echo @jon1979 regarding the agriculture assumptions by China. Academics and paper pushers are very good at reducing people to numbers and statistics. But that ignores the three-dimensional aspect of human nature in this case emotion, patriotism, loyalty, etc. The rural communities and farmers in Minnesota really drive a hard line for Trump, it’s the highly populated urban Twin Cities that voted overwhelmingly for Clinton. I think the same will happen this year, despite the media’s constant condescending attitude towards farmers that voting for Trump is actually very bad and against their self-interest. Gosh, sounds like the media and China are reading from the same script… Good post!
There were 75 active Confucius Institutes in the United States as of June 30, 2020, and another 45 recently closed or in the process of closing. The vast majority are attached to universities, one in Washington State is unaffiliated with a specific institution, and seven are affiliated with K-12 school districts, including one a couple of miles from me here attached to the College of William & Mary, the alma mater of Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe, John Tyler, John Marshall, and John Blair, adjacent to Colonial Williamsburg.
From the first link:
The Hanban is Beijing’s controlling organization for the initiative. This is an international initiative launched by the CCP in 2004 with a CI in Seoul and at the University of Maryland in College Park. The CIs have paid millions to compliant faculty and administrators. The choir of “racists” responding to the use of the term “China virus” are echoing Xi and the CIs, for example. The CIs seem to get mentioned in espionage scandals as well.
Likely many of the younger staff shaping media stories are veterans of CI classes and handlers. I would love to see the stats on that. Certainly many were influenced by faculty taking hundreds of thousands or millions from the CCP through the CIs.