In China, the home of Sun Tzu’s Art of War, it is in the blood to “fight” others. During the U.S. election campaign, it was hard not to make Australia a “soft touch” as Beijing’s preferred option. But the consequences will have to be borne, and Beijing will soon find out that, in addition to Australia’s anger and international bad press, the “soft-persimmon” tactic does not make it immune to attack from the United States.
China’s bet is that most Western countries will try not to provoke Beijing in the midst of an epidemic and economic downturn, lest they suffer the same losses as Australia, Bloomberg reports. At the same time, Beijing is attempting to strengthen its ties with Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asian countries through trade, investment in 5G networks, and the sale of vaccines. However, the Communist Party’s warning to all countries may still backfire.
Here’s what the Wall Street Journal reported a week ago (Nov. 23): “The U.S. government plans to form a new alliance that will fight back when Beijing uses its trade power to coerce other countries into compliance, following Beijing’s economic pressure on Australia. One U.S. official said, “China is trying to use excessive economic coercion to bring other countries to their knees. The West needs to set up a system that will share the cost of the CCP’s coercive diplomatic retaliation and offset the cost.”
On November 30, the Financial Times also reported that the EU plans to rebuild relations with the U.S. on common fronts such as technology, epidemics, and democracy, build a new alliance with the U.S., and address the threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party. The EU suggests that the United States seize the “once in a lifetime” gathering to form a new global alliance to deal with the “strategic challenge” posed by China.
In other news, NATO plans to release a report on Tuesday stressing the need for NATO to think more carefully over the next 10 years about how to deal with China and its military rise.
The Trump administration did not relent in its pressure on Beijing during the election period, and a few days ago, on November 27, the U.S. government announced that it was imposing economic sanctions on four Chinese and Russian companies for allegedly assisting Iran in developing its missile program. The sanctions, imposed on Best New Materials and Elim Trade, were imposed on November 25 for a period of two years.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement the same day that the United States will continue to curb Iran’s missile development program and sanction foreign suppliers, such as Chinese and Russian entities, that support Iran’s missile development program and provide related materials and technology.
In addition to being “singled out” for sanctions by the U.S. for helping Iran develop its missile program, the U.S. government on Tuesday (Dec. 1) accused China of “flagrantly violating” its obligations to enforce international sanctions against North Korea. The U.S. announced a reward of up to $5 million for information about China’s efforts to help North Korea evade sanctions.
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for North Korean Affairs Alex Wong said that China continues to host at least 20,000 North Korean workers in violation of the U.N. ban and that the United States has observed 550 shipments of banned coal or other sanctioned goods from North Korea to China in the past year. To date, China has hosted at least 24 North Korean representatives associated with Pyongyang’s weapons program or banks, and Chinese companies continue to do business with U.N.-sanctioned North Korean entities that play a key role in North Korea’s weapons program.
China has intensified its efforts to allow Chinese companies to trade with the DPRK in prohibited goods, including seafood, textiles, iron and steel, industrial machinery, vehicles, sand and gravel, which are prohibited imports from the DPRK. In no other country do we see the continued breadth and depth of illegal business activity with North Korea on a scale that puts China in blatant violation of its U.N. obligations,” said Mr. Huang.
Huang said the U.S. State Department is launching a website where people can provide information about evading North Korea’s sanctions in exchange for up to $5 million in return.
On Monday (Nov. 30), the Trump administration imposed sanctions on the China National Electronics Import and Export Corporation, accusing the company of supporting the illegal regime of Maduro in Venezuela in its efforts to undermine democracy. The U.S. Department of the Treasury statement said: “The software and hardware packages provided by CEE for Venezuela are commercial versions of China’s ‘Great Firewall’, a Chinese nationwide network blocking system. The firewall is China’s nationwide Internet blocking and filtering system that maintains strict online censorship, controls information that Chinese citizens can access outside of China, and prevents the internal dissemination of content that the Communist Party’s political leadership deems undesirable.”
Beijing tries to pick on soft targets, but remains a target of attacks from both sides in the U.S. election. Trump supporter Lin Wood, a prominent U.S. attorney, tweeted Tuesday (Dec. 1) that the U.S. is “headed for a civil war” that was “created by bad guys in a third party” to take away Americans’ freedoms, while the Communist Party (Communist Party) is “headed for a civil war” that is “created by bad guys in a third party” to take away Americans’ freedoms. China is the main instigator. He also urged President Trump to declare martial law in order to hold new elections.
Linwood tweeted, “Communist China is playing a leading role in the evil attempt to take away our freedom.” This followed a Nov. 12 tweet from Linwood that said, “Our country is at war with Communist China. It’s a war between good and evil.” He wants Americans to realize that the real enemy is the Chinese Communist Party.
According to Linwood, the CCP has infiltrated the United States over the past 20 years, and many local, state and national government officials and politicians have been corrupted by the CCP’s money and have become targets of its blackmail. Today, the Chinese Communist Party is using viruses to attack the United States, and it is also using the Dominion voting system to manipulate U.S. elections.
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