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Tuesday, April 25, 2023

The United States must respond strongly to the threat China poses


April 25, 2023

In recent months there has been a lot of seriously bad news about China. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has recognized this situation and has responded by devoting a portion of its website to “The China Threat.”

Here is the opening statement by the FBI: “The counterintelligence and economic espionage efforts emanating from the government of China and the Chinese Communist Party are a grave threat to the economic well-being and democratic values of the United States.

“Confronting this threat is the FBI’s top counterintelligence priority.

“To be clear, the adversary is not the Chinese people or people of Chinese descent or heritage. The threat comes from the programs and policies pursued by an authoritarian government.

“The Chinese government is employing tactics that seek to influence lawmakers and public opinion to achieve policies that are more favorable to China.

“At the same time, the Chinese government is seeking to become the world’s greatest superpower through predatory lending and business practices, systematic theft of intellectual property, and brazen cyber intrusions.

“China’s efforts target businesses, academic institutions, researchers, lawmakers, and the general public and will require a whole-of-society response. The government and the private sector must commit to working together to better understand and counter the threat.”

A statement on the website from FBI Director Christopher Wray said: “The greatest long-term threat to our nation’s information and intellectual property, and to our economic vitality, is the counterintelligence and economic espionage threat from China.”

The website contains a section featuring the photos of more than 30 Chinese fugitives who are wanted by the FBI for a variety of crimes committed against U.S. interests on behalf of China. That section also includes four groups/organizations that are targeted for criminal action.

Another section, titled “The China Threat: Primers,” provides information on the risks to the country. “These resources for businesses, universities, and research institutions provide an overview of the risks partners face from China and how they can protect themselves from threats,” and includes these segments: Executive Summary; The Risk to Corporate America; The Risk to Academia.

There are other serious problems associated with Communist China, like the deadly Covid virus, which killed millions worldwide, and hundreds of thousands in the U.S. It came from China. The story China told was that it came from a wet market, which was initially accepted by many, including some well-known scientists.

The theory that is now more widely accepted is that the virus came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where U.S. dollars had been invested in gain-of-function research. Dr. Robert Redfield, former head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is one who believes it came from the Wuhan lab. The debate is whether it somehow escaped, or it was released.

China will not release its lab records that would defend its position.

The Chinese are also purchasing farm land near U.S military bases. These purchases have occurred in North Dakota, Florida and Texas, and include the purchase of 130,000 acres near Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas by a Chinese-controlled company.

In January, the U.S. Air Force said that a proposed Chinese-owned corn mill near Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota “presents a significant threat to national security.” 

This story, reported by USA Today, noted that federal law “requires a Defense Department risk analysis whenever a foreign person or country buys property close to sensitive military sites.”

Furthermore, there is the concern that Chinese purchases of American companies such as Smithfield Foods could negatively affect the U.S. food supply. And we must not forget China’s part in the fentanyl coming across the southern border that has killed thousands of Americans.

The spy balloon that entered over our northwestern states, spent days over the U.S., being guided to and traveling over sensitive military bases where, officials have said, it was able to gather intelligence and send it to Beijing in real time. Finally, after the balloon had a leisurely trip across the country, it was shot down over the Atlantic off the South Carolina coast.

The FBI and other agencies shut down a clandestine Chinese “police station” in Manhattan’s Chinatown following the arrest recently of two Chinese men who were operating it. The New York Post reported that there are apparently several other stations in the country. Another one is in New York City, the Post reported, and one more is in Los Angeles.

A Madrid-based non-profit said there are stations in San Francisco and Houston, and also in Nebraska and Minnesota. The mission of these stations is to spy on Chinese nationals who are here and in other places around the world.

China is also building up its military, and has developed an intermediate-range hypersonic missile that can hit targets thousands of miles away and has a “high probability” of penetrating US defenses, according to a report.

Clearly, China is not our friend, and we must respond quickly and forcefully to these threats.

Our military must put its obsession with proper pronouns and diversity, equity and inclusion in the trash, and start focusing on again becoming the strongest, the most efficient and feared military on the Earth.

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