China is the United States most significant adversary

April 15, 2025

It is widely recognized that the most serious adversary of the United States of America is China, which is under control of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Many years ago, in an effort to bring China into the group of nations with market-based economies, make it a partner in international trade, open it to global investment and help make it the workshop of the world, China was admitted to the World Trade Organization (WTO), on December 11, 2001.

Since then, things have not gone as planned, and China misses the mark on the commitments and responsibilities of membership in the WTO. Its lack of faithfully meeting the WTO’s foundational principles is detrimental to its trading partners and the international economic system.

WTO members have rights to enjoy preferential access to other nations’ markets. However, they also have responsibilities, such as committing to support and pursue “open, market-oriented policies,” observing foundational principles of “non-discrimination, market access, reciprocity, and fairness.”

China has played half the game. It fully exploits the WTO’s rights, but for the most part ignores the responsibilities and commitments that go with them. It practices state-directed capitalism, and denies other members access to Chinese markets on reciprocal terms; distorts global markets, including for advanced-technology goods; and deprives nations of the reciprocal benefits they should receive as a member of the community of trading nations.

China’s failure to perform according to WTO standards has had a serious effect on the U.S. 

The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation provided a report in 2021 with some troubling information. “From 2001 to 2020, the United States accrued a $6.82 trillion deficit in trade in goods with China. Throughout the prior decade, U.S. goods trade deficits with China were consistently in the $400 billion to $500 billion range annually, topping out with a $539 billion trade deficit in 2018.”

“The Economic Policy Institute estimated that the growth of the U.S. trade deficit with China between 2002 and 2018 was responsible for the loss of 3.7 million U.S. jobs, including 1.7 million jobs lost since 2008. Three-fourths of the jobs—about 2.8 million in total—lost between 2001 and 2018 were in manufacturing.”

China currently owns property, primarily farmland, in 29 of our 50 states.

According to a 2021 report from the Department of Agriculture, China owns roughly 384,000 acres of U.S. agricultural land. These properties were purchased by Chinese investors, which could be individuals, companies, or the Chinese government, or U.S. corporations with Chinese shareholders. The purchase of properties has continued through the years, and increased in recent years. This land was valued at about $2 billion when purchased.

Some of that land is owned by Smithfield Foods, a major American pork producer, which a Chinese company purchased in 2013.

The New York Post published information about Chinese properties in the U.S. last June. “China has been buying up strategically placed farmland next to military installations across the U.S., raising national security fears over potential espionage or even sabotage.

“The Post has identified 19 bases across the U.S. from Florida to Hawaii which are in close proximity to land bought up by Chinese entities and could be exploited by spies working for the communist nation.

“They include some of the military’s most strategically important bases: Fort Liberty (formerly Fort Bragg) in Fayetteville, North Carolina; Fort Cavazos (formerly Fort Hood) in Killeen, Texas; Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in San Diego, California, and MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida.

“Robert S. Spalding, III, a retired United States Air Force brigadier general whose work focuses on US-China relations told The Post: ‘It is concerning due to the proximity to strategic locations.

“‘These locations can be used to set up intelligence collection sites and the owners can be influential in local politics as we have seen in the past,’ he added.”

Author and China scholar Gordon Chang was born in China and lived there for a few years before his family left. Since then he spent much time living and working in China, and has written several books on the country. He points out some problems China has that may make us feel a little better about the future. 

Writing in his book, The Coming Collapse of China, Chang notes: “The Communist Party has struggled to keep up with great change over the last two decades, but now it is beginning to fail as it often cannot provide the basic needs of its people. Corruption and malfeasance erode the Party’s support from small hamlet to great city …. Social order in their nation is dissolving. The Chinese are making a break for the future, and the disaffected are beginning to find their voice …. The people are in motion now, and it’s just a matter of time before they get what they want.”

While China’s internal problems give us reason to feel somewhat encouraged, we must not stand by idly hoping for a good outcome.

China should own no U.S. food producers or have control of any American farmland, particularly near military bases. The Trump administration must focus on reclaiming ownership and control over any and all farmland and food production companies in the U.S.