The Chinese Regime’s Patient War With the West

The reality of U.S.-China relations: the Chinese regime is at war with the West.
The Chinese Regime’s Patient War With the West
TEMPER TANTRUM: A copy of China's state-run English-language China Daily with a headline regarding U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, in Beijing on Feb. 1. China's state media accused Washington of 'arrogance' and 'double standards'' in going ahead with arms sales to Taiwan, saying Beijing's threat to penalize U.S. companies over the deal was very real. (Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)
2/18/2010
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/TWarmxz96312677.jpg" alt="TEMPER TANTRUM: A copy of China's state-run English-language China Daily with a headline regarding U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, in Beijing on Feb. 1. China's state media accused Washington of 'arrogance' and 'double standards'' in going ahead with arms sales to Taiwan, saying Beijing's threat to penalize U.S. companies over the deal was very real.  (Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)" title="TEMPER TANTRUM: A copy of China's state-run English-language China Daily with a headline regarding U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, in Beijing on Feb. 1. China's state media accused Washington of 'arrogance' and 'double standards'' in going ahead with arms sales to Taiwan, saying Beijing's threat to penalize U.S. companies over the deal was very real.  (Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1822912"/></a>
TEMPER TANTRUM: A copy of China's state-run English-language China Daily with a headline regarding U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, in Beijing on Feb. 1. China's state media accused Washington of 'arrogance' and 'double standards'' in going ahead with arms sales to Taiwan, saying Beijing's threat to penalize U.S. companies over the deal was very real.  (Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)
That the U.S. government somehow has gotten the idea that the Chinese regime will cooperate with the United States, as if the Chinese communist regime and the U.S. share some common interests. The U.S. governemnt acts as if the Chinese regime is no different from a freely elected government—this has always been puzzling.

After the collapse of the former Soviet Union and the communist regimes in Eastern Europe, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched a war whose goals were first to prevent its own fall and then to defeat the free world.

Chinese strongman Deng Xiaoping summarized the essence of this strategy in 1990 as “cope with a cool head, secure our bases, hide our power, and bide our time; never appear to be the leader [of the communist camp].” The ultimate enemy to the CCP’s survival and its goal of ruling China forever is naturally the United States, the leading power of the free world.

Supporting What Harms the U.S.


Based on this strategy, it is only logical to think that anything that troubles the United States is most likely to benefit the CCP.

North Korea’s nuclear ambitions are very troubling to the United States. But those ambitions benefit Beijing. They distract U.S. attention from the actions the CCP takes in preparation for an eventual confrontation with the United States, consume U.S. resources, and make China look like an innocent bystander or even a helpful partner to the United States.

Applying Deng’s strategy, the CCP appears to be very innocent and claims to have played no role in the North Korean nuclear program. Further, the CCP shows that it has no control over its little brother and pretends to be unhappy with North Korea’s nuclear program.

Some U.S. strategists have almost delusional thoughts that China can persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions. These strategists believe the United States should tolerate Beijing’s behavior in other matters in order to win its cooperation.

Predictably, the coordination of China and North Korea has made the United States look like a fool over the past few years, with the United States in effect being blackmailed by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.

Now the United States is having another delusion, that China will help the United States to deal with Iran’s nuclear program, despite the fact that China frequently blocks any sanctions against Iran. The democratic movements in Iran and the Iranian regime’s hostility to the United States have made Beijing naturally sympathetic to Iran’s rulers.


A similar logic holds on the issue of fighting terrorism. The Chinese regime’s tolerance for the U.S.-led war against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq was not based on a shared analysis of the situation or shared values. Rather, the CCP expected this war would bring the United States trouble by consuming U.S. military and economic power, increasing hatred of the Islamic nations for the United States, and fanning anti-American sentiments around the world.

Ironically, at the same time that President Bush was pouring bombs on the head of Saadam, he was hosting CCP Secretary General and President Jiang Zemin at Bush’s Prairie Chapel Ranch. Jiang Zemin was treated as a friend and Saddam an enemy because Jiang controlled real stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, which Bush was willfully ignoring.

Strategic Temper Tantrum


The Chinese regime’s reactions to the U.S. government positions on Google, arm sales to Taiwan, and Obama’s meeting with Dalai Lama are only natural and expected. With these actions, the Chinese regime once again reminds the world that the CCP runs China not according to our wishes but according to its strategy.

Google’s announcement that it may cease censoring information in China even at the cost of having to shut down its Chinese operations was a response to bold attacks made by the Chinese regime’s hackers on Google. In the last twenty years the CCP has realized that due to the attraction of China’s vast market, U.S. corporations are willing to accept the rules it sets. The acquiescence of the U.S. corporations has encouraged the CCP so that it was willing to launch the internet attacks on Google and other tech companies. Such attacks are simply a part of the silent war the CCP is waging against the free world.

Taiwan is a trump card that the CCP likes to play with the United States. Taiwan’s democratic political system has basically spoiled the theory that the CCP had sold well to the West that Chinese culture is incompatible with democracy. The subject of Taiwan still serves the CCP well, though, by inflaming nationalism in Mainland Chinese and distracting Chinese attention from domestic crises. Balancing the military power across the Strait is the best strategy for keeping the peace.

If President Obama delayed his meeting with Dalai Lama until after Obama’s trip to China to please Beijing, then meeting him afterwards makes no sense. Doing so makes Obama appear to be opportunistic and untrustworthy. No wonder, an official editorial in the state-run Guanming Daily was headlined “Obama, 1.3 billion Chinese People Despise you!” Of course, no polling was done to support that claim.

If Google had refused to cooperate in censoring information in China at the start of its operations in China, if the United States had sold weapons to Taiwan without delaying for so long, and if Obama had met with Dalai Lama right before he visited Beijing—none of these actions would have made any difference in the regime’s attitude toward the United States. The CCP leaders expect these actions; they have always known what the West stands for.

The CCP’s recent temper tantrum over arms sales to Taiwan and Obama’s meeting with the Dalai Lama does not indicate it will risk confronting the United States now. The regime will remember Deng’s strategy for defeating the United States. Even its temper tantrums are done with a cool head, as a way of testing the United States. It will continue to hide its power and bide its time.

The CCP has no illusions that the United States is a friend or partner. The CCP leaders respect the United States more when U.S. leaders put principles and values before short-term political or economic gains. The people who work for the CCP are actually hungry deep inside for the freedom that we enjoy here in the United States. That is why they send their children to the West, put their fortunes in foreign banks, and hold passports from several Western countries. After all, the war is between the CCP and the free world, not between the Chinese people and the free world; the Chinese people, given a choice, would choose freedom.