China: Aiding and abetting the enemy
By Tom DeWeese and Peyton Knight
web
posted April 23, 2001
Americans should not be surprised by Communist China's recent actions, but too many are being taken in by the apologists who exist today just as they did during the rise of Nazi Germany. Pundits and politicians alike, when describing our diplomatic dealings with China, are quick to remind everyone that today's China is a "centuries old civilization" rich in tradition and ancient religious discipline; a Confucian civilization that is still upset over wrongdoings during the period of European colonization. They are wrong.
The China we confront today is nothing like the pre-nineteenth century nation being referenced. Since 1949 when the reign of Mao Tse-tung began Communist China has been governed by tyrannical thugs thirsty to expand their dictatorial regime. They are imbued with an unrelenting hatred of Western civilization and the United States.
 Chinese President Jiang Zemin, right, is greeted by Premier Zhu Rongji at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on his return home on April 19 after winding up his six-nation Latin American tour |
More than 60 million innocent Chinese have been murdered in the past half-century. Jiang Zemin is the newest leader of this rogue, imperialistic government whose civilians are under constant persecution. Much of China's barbaric treatment of political dissidents happens behind closed doors and prison walls, protected by walls of silence and fear of unrestrained state power. The world glimpsed this a little more than a decade ago in the Tienanmen Square Massacre. China's Politburo literally crushed freedom's advocates under the treads of war tanks.
Why then, considering the human rights atrocities and iron-fisted political oppression, is the United States practicing a policy of friendship with China? "We need them for trade," we're told. "An open market with China will enhance the independence of their citizenry. They're in the slow, but steady process of reform." None of these statements could be further from the truth.
Open, limitless trade with China does nothing but grant credence to a hostile regime, the likes of which we have not seen since Hitler or Stalin. As the Chinese people continue to suffer, U.S. appeasement policy ever emboldens Dictator Jiang Zemin. Our $80 billion trade deficit with China continues to bolster their military build-up, further enhancing their nuclear capability. Our dollars pay for the missiles they point towards the United States.
Many believe that China is a communist nation transforming itself into a democratic republic. They point to China's Constitution that guarantees freedoms such as speech, association, religion and press. The Constitution of the former Soviet Union made the same guarantees. They cite the rise in individual wealth of "businessmen" in Beijing. Yet the thugs in China's Politburo don't practice what their Constitution preaches. There are no independent businessmen or private companies in China. These outlets serve as sources of massive income and intelligence gathering for the brutes in charge.
China is a vile, communist dictatorship operating under the guise of a pseudo-capitalist republic and their mask is fooling many Americans and influencing the policies of the United States government. The Chinese government has complete control of the nation's broadcast media and various printed publications. During the course of the last year, many independent publications were shut down, and journalists arrested, beaten and imprisoned for printing information that the authorities deemed "inappropriate." Every single piece of information, whether it is in print, on the radio, on television, or on the Internet, is filtered through the Politburo and censored.
Recently, several new regulations regarding the Internet have been issued and, as a result, access to many web sites and foreign news sites has been blocked by the authorities. Despite all of this, the Chinese government would have the world believe that media institutions operate independently.
There is no freedom of religion in China. All places of religious activity must register with the government and come under the supervision of official "patriotic" religious organizations. In several instances last year authorities, guided by national policy, tore down houses of worship. Catholics and Protestants continue to be under particularly tight surveillance. The U.S. State Department reports instances of priests and other religious leaders being fined, detained, beaten and tortured.
 A young Falun Gong practitioner meditates while taking part in a candlelight vigil in central Hong Kong on April 17 |
You need not be religious or a journalist to qualify for imprisonment and beatings in China. You need only be critical in any way, shape or form of one of their government institutions. Any complaint by an ordinary citizen can lead to harsh treatment. Dissent, if only deciding to take control of one's spiritual life meets with repression that is unimaginable to Americans. In just the past year, hundreds of Falun Gong members were beaten, tortured and killed. Often their bodies were cremated before relatives could have the chance to identify them.
"Re-education-through-labor" camps continue to thrive in China. These camps are prisons for political dissidents and religious adherents. Dissenters are subjected to rigorous forced labor, beatings, and torture in a brainwashing process designed to return them to being "good citizens" of China's People's Republic. The latest statistics show that, in 1997, an estimated 230,000 persons were being detained in the camps. Psychiatric hospitals, too, continue to be used to imprison political prisoners and drug them against their will.
The simple right to bear children does not exist in China. Zemin and his henchmen are vehement in their enforcement of population control policy. Forced abortions and mandatory sterilizations are the order of the day. For those that manage to bear one-too-many children, fines and imprisonment await. Livestock in China have more procreative freedom than citizens.
Yet, despite all of the unthinkable atrocities, China hopes to host the Olympic games in 2008. In fact, one Chinese official recently wrote a scathing letter to Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD), warning him not to interfere in the communist nation's Olympic bid. The Olympic games would provide just one more international vote of confidence that all is well in China. Are we about to repeat the abomination of 1936, when Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany used the Olympics as a propaganda tool to showcase the strength of "the Aryan race"? Yes!
In the past eight years, China has made tremendous gains in international power and influence. The Clinton Administration allowed the communist dictators to buy into our political process, accepting funding for his re-election. In return, he turned a blind eye to Chinese spying and technology thefts. Thanks to Clinton's Democratic predecessor, Jimmy Carter, Red China now occupies and controls both ends of the Panama Canal. China's military budget continues to rise rapidly. Blindly, the United States has been helping a new powerful enemy, as great or more than the former Soviet Union ever was.
The time has come for a sensible, honest approach to China. It must be one that recognizes this evil empire for what it is-a threat to civilization in general and the United States in particular. The first step in confronting the China threat is the passage of Rep. Duncan Hunter's (R-CA) bill, H.R. 1467, that would withdraw normal trade relations status from the People's Republic of China.
Because China has yet to join the World Trade Organization, their trade status must annually come up for congressional review. In June of 2001, Congress will vote to either continue the charade of "reforming" China through limitless open trade or revoke its trade status. This is an unparalleled opportunity to begin a true reformation process. H.R. 1467 currently has 32 cosponsors, proving its popularity. More Reaganesque champions of liberty are needed onboard.
We can't reform China until we reform our current policy of enabling its murderous regime. Millions of Chinese citizens are silently praying that someone, anyone, will step up to the plate and take on their rulers. The Chinese people, like all people, desire the most basic freedoms.
Unfortunately, many in Washington think that a policy of appeasement
will achieve that goal. Until the United States takes positive action,
beginning with trade restrictions and the passage of Rep. Hunter's bill,
our nation will remain an accomplice to one of the bloodiest dictatorships
of our time. 
Tom DeWeese and Peyton Knight are the editor and co-editor of The DeWeese Report, a monthly policy review. Mr. DeWeese is president of the American Policy Center. A petition to support the repeal of China's trade status is posted on http://www.americanpolicy.org.
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