On June 9 the Washington Times published a story by Bill Gertz titled Analysts Missed Chinese Buildup. When root assumptions are wrong, basic information will be processed incorrectly. According to Gertz, a "highly classified intelligence report" has concluded that American intelligence missed "several key developments in China in the past decade." Of course, U.S. intelligence has missed the entire context of the controlled changes in Eastern Europe, the economic strategy of China, the transformation of Venezuela into a hostile beachhead, the shifting of mineral rich South Africa from the capitalist camp to the socialist camp, the arming of rogue dictators by Russia and China (who are bound by a "friendship treaty" that amounts to a military alliance). These items are parts in a larger whole, even if American analysts refuse to see a work in progress.
China's war preparations are deliberate, and the implications should not be passed over lightly. China is a highly secretive country, like all communist countries. The objective of communism is world revolution, the overthrow of global capitalism, the destruction of the free market, the elimination of the international bourgeoisie and the disarming of the United States. We should be puzzled, indeed, if Chinese policy did not follow the communist line (however deviously). Given all this, it is difficult to account for the dismissive attitude of U.S. intelligence experts when regarding Chinese intentions. The China problem is a serious one. "The people ... of the countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America should unite," said Chairman Mao in 1964. "The people of all continents should unite ... and so form the broadest united front to oppose the U.S. imperialist policies of aggression and war and to defend world peace."
In terms of today's peace movement, Mao's sentiments are up-to-date. They are, I think, a founding inspiration. The supposed "death of communism" may have eliminated a few soiled terms, but not the main idea. The label on old hatreds may be changed, but the content remains the same. And because America is asleep, and the market is buzzing with Chinese goods, the U.S. government has turned a blind eye. The truth about China is worse than inconvenient. It is painful. So a special context has been devised for dismissing inconvenient facts. This context is inculcated at graduate schools, think tanks and in government. The context for understanding international affairs must not admit the existence of a coordinated, secretive and dangerous combination of countries motivated to overthrow the United States. In other words, the existence of a "communist bloc" cannot be admitted. And China's role within this bloc - above all - must be rated as a "crackpot notion." And yet, the existence of something identical to the old communist bloc - whatever we choose to call it - is indicated by actions across the board by Russia, the East European satellite countries, North Korea, Vietnam, Cuba and China.
Some ideas fall from fashion. But truth is always true, fashion or not. U.S. experts failed to connect the dots regarding China's development of a long-range cruise missile, a new attack submarine, new ground-to-air missiles, a new anti-ship missile (for sinking U.S. aircraft carriers) and more. China is preparing for war against the United States, specifically. As absurd as it sounds to the economic optimists who think trade with China guarantees peace, the U.S. and China are bound to collide. Anyone who thinks otherwise doesn't have a sense of history, doesn't understand communist thinking or the overall policy Beijing has consistently followed since 1949. Communist countries periodically experiment with capitalism, they always seek trade with the West, and they always sink the money and technology they gain thereby into a military buildup. Ultimately, they don't care about the prosperity of their people, the state of the national infrastructure, personal or press freedom.
Some believe that we mustn't say that China is a threat. Such a statement would be akin to self-fulfilling prophecy. But an honest appreciation of Chinese actions should not be disallowed by an appeasing diplomacy or wishful thinking. The job of the analyst is not to guarantee good relations with countries that are preparing for destructive war. The job of the analyst is to see war preparations, diplomatic maneuvers and economic policies and draw a common sense conclusion about them. If world peace depends on hiding China's military buildup, then world peace is like your fat uncle dressed in a Santa Claus suit. Saying it's your fat uncle may ruin Christmas for your little sister, but Santa Claus isn't a real person - and never will be.
On June 27 we read another Washington Times article by Bill Gertz: "Beijing devoted to weakening 'enemy' U.S., defector says." According to Gertz, a former Chinese diplomat named Chen Yonglin says that top Chinese officials consider the United States to be "the largest enemy, the major strategic rival" of China. There is no reason to doubt Mr. Chen's testimony. He is doubtless telling the truth, which helps to explain China's rapid military buildup. Chen's statement underscores a certain lack of symmetry between Beijing and Washington. Top U.S. officials do not consider China to be America's largest enemy or major strategic rival. Instead, China is viewed as a major trading partner, and U.S. economic interests generally prefer the appeasement of China. Consequently, you will not find the U.S. Congress cutting off favored trading status for China. The White House has carefully avoided any hint that China is considered an "enemy country." Growing Chinese involvement in Latin America is not viewed with alarm. Politicians refuse to acknowledge that China is building a military alliance with Russia, Cuba, Iran and others.
Gertz further tells us that China is engaged in a massive military intelligence-gathering operation against the United States. Chinese agents are working day and night to monitor its enemies as well as Chinese nationals living abroad. Chinese agents are working to influence the military, trade and foreign policies of key countries like Australia, Canada and the United States. China is playing a game of "divide and conquer," seeking to drive a wedge between America and its traditional allies. In fact, Beijing's influence operations are so successful that Chinese diplomat Chen's request for political asylum in Australia was turned down by the Australian government. The Chinese penetration of Canada has been outlined by a joint RCMP-CSIS report titled Sidewinder. According to this report, "Hand in hand with their ethnicity and their commercial obligations, the financial network of the Chinese entrepreneurs associated to the organized crime and to the power in Beijing has grown exponentially and very rapidly in Canada. Their influence over local, provincial and national political leaders has also increased. In the game of influence, several of these important Chinese entrepreneurs have associated themselves with prestigious and influential Canadian politicians, offering them positions on their boards of directors. Many of those companies are China's national companies."
It is difficult for an open democratic society to counter such methods. Those who believe that China is democratizing, by way of capitalism, will be disappointed. Diplomatic defector Chen told the Washington Times that the ruling Communist Party of China has not changed or softened its Marxist-Leninist views. China's swing toward capitalism is a tactic for building communist military power, not a foundation for Chinese democracy. Americans who invest in China have made a foolish bargain.
In a two-part series by Gertz (see Chinese Dragon Awakens) we find that China could be ready for war in two years. China has developed advanced weapons systems through the theft of U.S. technology. America appears unable to secure its military secrets. The attitude of Americans - in government as well as in the private sector - may be characterized as unwary, sleepy or downright sloppy. The Chinese have not only stolen the secret of America's most advanced nuclear warhead, they have also stolen the secret of our Aegis anti-air weapon system. In a war with China U.S. servicemen will be killed by U.S. technology in Chinese hands.
Groundbreaking stories by Bill Gertz, published in the Washington Times, are routinely dismissed or ignored by analysts in and out of government. Four years ago I met a STRATFOR analyst at a conference who turned his nose up at the many stories broken by Bill Gertz. But what about Gertz's inside sources, his track record of accurate reporting? "No, no," said the STRATFOR analyst, "the Washington Times is owned by the Moonies." In other words, we should judge the reporter by the owner of the paper. The Unification Church of the Rev. Sun Myung Moon owns America's most prestigious conservative newspaper. This fact, however, doesn't discredit the Washington Times or Bill Gertz any more than the religious affiliation (or atheism) of other newspaper owners. Every owner of every newspaper has a point of view. The owner's point of view doesn't negate the truth of Chinese defector testimony or secret U.S. government reports. Where point of view comes into the picture is in the choice of what is news, which facts are pertinent and what context to frame them in. In these choices the Washington Times is not mistaken, and those who ignore the facts are merely cultists in their own right - their minds as closed and bigoted as any that may be found in this or any age.
