American writers analyze that the trend of U.S.-China confrontation is irreversible. (Photo credit: Internet composite)
The online magazine American Thinker published an article by writer John Horvat II on Thursday (April 8), saying that for nearly 50 years, Western countries have wishfully imagined that by helping the Chinese Communist Party develop its economy and go global, the Communist Party would turn from evil to good. But the truth is that the powerful CCP has become a great threat to the world. Horvath said the United States and the West must abandon their wishful thinking about the CCP and take immediate and forceful action to limit their engagement with the CCP before it is too late.
The following is a translation of the article.
The U.S. and Western policy of “constructive engagement” with the Chinese Communist Party is the most absurd and wishful example in history. For nearly fifty years, the West has pumped trillions of dollars into the CCP’s practices, and there is now little left to show for it except a more powerful CCP. Fortunately, many Americans are now aware of the dangers of dealing with the CCP, and it is hardly too late.
Since President Nixon’s infamous 1972 trip to China, the West has been deluding itself into thinking that being friendly to Red China is a win-win situation. The policy baseline is that China’s opening up will expose the communist country to freedom, thus prompting its dictator to change and do what is best for the Chinese people. Woo hoo! The West is dead wrong!
A few myths
There are several myths about China that are wishful thinking fantasies.
The first myth is that by introducing a free-market system to China, the CCP leadership will gradually adopt capitalist-like practices, and communism will exist in name only. The West has long argued that the CCP has abandoned Marxist ideology and embraced the world market.
However, the CCP has never stopped insisting that it is a true communist. The more the West says the CCP is not communist, the more openly the CCP states that it is. The recent assertive display of Xi Jinping’s dictatorial rule has shattered the hopes of Western optimists. The situation in Hong Kong and the persecution of the Catholic Church now provide bitter testimony that nothing has changed.
Globalization and Control
Another myth is that China is integrated into the global economy and therefore poses no threat. The reality is that the West has shaped China and transformed it into a powerhouse. By transferring many things there, it is now the West that is dependent on China. The West has shaped a scientific monster that now threatens the world.
The final myth is that China is a shining example of the free market and that it shows what can be achieved when nations work together. Indeed, China has gone from being a hopeless economic mess to a dynamic power. But this development is not because of the free market.
The CCP was created by the West, using Western technology and money, but straying from the free-market system. The CCP routinely violates trade agreements, shamelessly steals Western intellectual property, uses slave labor to produce cheap goods, its economy is awash in state planning and debt, its shadow banking system is notoriously corrupt, the government has total control of the economy through grassroots party members in every major industry, and the entire country is in an environmental disaster. The Chinese Communist Party is the antithesis of the free market.
While the West’s misguided policies see the CCP as a trading partner, the CCP sees the West as the enemy. It is now challenging the leadership, military power and technological development of the United States. The CCP wants to rule the world and is building a network of trade relationships to trick countries into falling into its death trap. The CCP is trying to lead the world in artificial intelligence and quantum computing, the two industries that will dominate the next generation of technological development.
Now a competitor
The backlash against the Chinese Communist Party is in full swing, and Americans are starting to see the light as the public hardens its stance against Beijing.
A recent Pew Research Center poll shows that 67 percent of Americans have a negative or very negative view of the CCP, up from 46 percent three years ago. Nearly 90 percent view the CCP as a competitor (55 percent) or enemy (34 percent). Some 84% believe the growing technological power of the CCP is a serious or very serious problem for the United States. Almost half of Americans believe that the United States should prioritize limiting the influence and power of the CCP.
This more realistic perception of the CCP transcends party lines. Both parties advocate measures to curb the CCP’s ambitions. The Biden administration recently released a document entitled “Interim National Security Strategy Guidance,” which supports some realistic approaches to the problem.
The current administration will retain at least some of the hard-line policy changes of the Trump administration that overturned decades of cooperation with the communist regime.
The Need for Policy Coherence
The United States has not realized the danger until now. For decades the U.S. has been asleep at the wheel, hoping the CCP would change on its own. The CCP has changed for the worst, becoming a powerful dragon that threatens the West.
The U.S. government is responding to the CCP’s growth by calling for increased spending on technology research and development. While this financial investment is a good thing to catch up with the CCP, it is not nearly enough. The United States has trained countless Chinese students in its universities. The U.S. has financed the CCP’s development through massive imports and out-migration. U.S. silence has contributed to the CCP’s human rights abuses and religious persecution of Catholics.
Nothing will be accomplished unless there are coherent and consistent policies to limit U.S. engagement, education and trade with the CCP. Foreign policy must be based on facts, not fantasy. The U.S. government needs to listen to what Americans think about Communist China. It is still communist, and there is no contrary idea that can change that reality.
Indeed, Western wishful thinking is becoming increasingly worrisome. Strong action is urgently needed before it is too late.
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