China would still be a sleeping giant if Western intellectuals and elitists were not so foolish as to think that the Chinese Communists would become more democratic and play by Western rules once the Chinese got fat and happy. Western corporations moved their factories to China to increase their bottom lines but the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) did not play by international rules. The Chinese thugorcacy robbed America blind and American leaders enabled them.
China still robs almost a trillion dollars of wealth from America each year through intellectual theft and unfair trade. Over a period of two decades, much of the industry of America was moved to China and much of the intellectual property of America was stolen. What we got in return was a wealthier top one percent, a military adversity with advanced weapons, unemployment and Walmart stuff cheap enough for people losing their good paying jobs to buy. Greedy corporations were building up their bottom line by dismantling America.
People who lost their jobs because of unfair trade practices had enough and elected Donald Trump in 2016 to derail the globalist gravy train. That is what the elitist uproar against Donald Trump and his supporters is really all about, along with the fear that the criminal activity taking place by the corporate controlled establishment could be exposed.
China is being ruled by a dozen or so families in the CCP. It is a thugocrasy. These Chinese Mafia families kill or imprison anyone that they feel is a threat to their dynasty. They persecute and imprison Christians, Muslims and others just for just practicing their religion. The Mafia then uses the prisons as chop shops for body parts. The West would be much better off if China was still a third world nation. America should not be enabling this thugocracy by trading with China as if it were a most favored nation.
In spite of all the Western wealth transferred to China, the CCP managed to mismanage it. The Chinese economy is now heading for big trouble. China is way overbuilt and way over leveraged. Even if they get a deal with Trump, China is likely to go into a depression. Trump knows they are trouble, that is why he is turning the screws now. On the other hand, the Chinese are hoping that Trump will lose the 2020 election. They could try to delay a trade agreement until they see how the election plays out. Nevertheless, they may not have that much time.
Trump should not trust China. They will do whatever they want in the future in spite of any trade agreements. Trump had 90% of a trade agreement with China worked out, but the CCP thugocracy did not like the structural changes and overruled it. They are not going to reform or permit a level playing field. Any agreement before the election would only be done for short term advantage. They will not abide by it, and by the time our nation knows they are cheating Trump may be out of the picture. The Chinese will even be meddling in our 2020 presidential election to get Trump defeated.
China is already buying ads in the Midwest blaming Trump for the tariff impact to farmers. The Chinese are also using the Confucius Institutes set up in most of our universities to change minds. There are over 300,000 Chinese nationals in our universities. Many other Chinese nationals work in U.S. corporations. All Chinese nationals are required to be loyal to the CCP and do whatever they are told. If they don’t comply, they would be at risk and their families in China would be at risk.
The world has been delusional about the motives of China. The Chinese see themselves as the center of the universe. Everyone else is subservient and will be used. China lends a lot of money to third world nations, but the loans comes at great price. Nations dealing with China are losing sovereignty and corporations dealing with China must give majority control to the CCP. The world might soon get a reality check should the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) move in to crush the freedom loving Hong Kong demonstrators.
President Trump believes that America needs to decouple from China and trade elsewhere. That is why he ordered American corporations to get out of China. The Chinese are not going to make the structural changes necessary to even the trading playing field. We would be much better off investing in our own hemisphere. It would solve much of our illegal immigration problems. Besides, China uses much of the wealth we give them to build up a military intended to be used against us or our allies.
The Chinese do not see the world as Westerners do. They think the Chinese are the most civilized and evolved people in the world and the rest of the world should be subservient to them. They want to make China great again after the great humiliation they believed they suffered during the 20th century. The CCP has put plans in place to make China the superpower of the world. Their
Belt and Road initiative is carrying that plan out.
In spite of any long range plans to become a superpower, China likely will encounter a sharp depression soon. Trump’s tariffs are just speeding up the depression already heading China’s way. Half of loans that the Chinese banks and shadow banks made cannot be collected. What the government claims is happening with the economy and what is actually happening are two different realities. Even the government cannot bail out all the corruption and all the banks about to fail. When the banks go under, there will be no more lending and people invested and saving in these banks will lose their wealth. That will end the economic expansion and many Chinese will lose their jobs. Foreign corporations are now pulling out of China. Rich people in China are seeing the dangers and have been trying to transfer their wealth elsewhere. Many have been investing in property in Hong Kong but the bubble their is also about to burst.
Thanks to the CCP’s authoritarian population controls China has 100 million surplus men and an aging population. There is no safety net in China. The one offspring that the CCP allowed will also have to support two aging parents. When the depression sets in, there will be riots in the streets followed by a purge. Heads are sure to roll like happened in previous purges.
I would not discount the possibility that the CCP would wave the flag in the name of unification and invade Taiwan to divert anger elsewhere. There could be war with America over Taiwan or over open access to the South China Sea. A revolution is possible, but unarmed people would be quickly put down by the PLA. More likely, a bloody civil war could start when factions of the CCP and the PLA turn against Chairman Xi and his supporters. Historically China does not transfer power peacefully.
Some like Steve Brannon think the freedom movement in Hong Kong will spread to the mainland and the communists will be overthrown within a couple of years. I am not that optimistic. I think that is wishful thinking. China is not the Soviet Union. There is no union to withdraw from. When the economic downturn hits in full force, there will be a purge but other authoritarians would just rise to the occasion to take their place. Even if the communists are overthrown, any democratic movement would soon be replaced by an authoritarian technocracy. We can even see this trend rising in the so-called Western democracies.
China is rapidly becoming a total surveillance society. I do not see how authoritarians controlling AI and all the weapons can be overthrown from within. So, if a revolution is going to happen, it needs to happen really soon because revolutions will not be successful in the Orwellian brave new world coming. China is leading the way to becoming a total surveillance society, but this fascist like technocracy is also rising elsewhere in the world. All that is needed to receive the brave new world is a little more time for the electronics to be set up and a little more time for development of AI.
We live in interesting times. Watch China, if it goes into an economic downturn things could get dicey real soon.
Good article Don, I have always thought that the drive, by many Americans to aid the development of China was driven by more than greed. It is too self defeating long term. That said, I personally consider it part of God allowing the end times to develop according to his plans. My question, I guess, is do you see this development as necessary for the “Kings of the East” to field and deploy a massive army at a long distance from their base? I think China had to develop.
Hi Phil,
I think the hundred million surplus men and the road and infrastructure to the middle east that China is developing is all related to the fulfillment of Bible prophecy.
America has been enabling one of our very own biggest enemies. American Corporations and most American politicians truly believe that they will be able to control China via economic dominance of American products but we are witnessing that, that is NOT the case. The CCP has looked the other way for decades and encouraged American Copyrights to be ignored and Chinese manufacturers have been ‘Reverse Engineering’ many American products from cell phones to even top secret space and nuclear plans. I applaud Trump standing up to unfair Chinese Tariffs when other US Presidents wouldn’t.
Hi Don, great article as usual!
Jim Rickards (author and expert on gold, currencies, and macro economics) has said a lot over the last 18 months as you have in this article, in that, China has many issues and that in this Trade War Trump has smelled blood and is turning up the pressure. People often cite the power China has to sell their US Treasury holdings in order to retaliate against the US, Rickards was the first to highlight the powers the President has (via the Economic Powers Act) to freeze such sales in protecting the US – very interesting stuff. Whatever happens will propel China to her destiny as an Eastern powerhouse able to field a military larger than any in history.
Hi Don,
Do you see Trump getting overtly involved in any way with the Hong Kong mess like people there are asking him to do?
Hi Adriana,
Other than some White House jaw boning for democracy, Trump is not going to get involved in the internal affairs of China. However, If the PLA crushed the rebellion by killing people there would be severe economic consequences for China.
Hi Don! Although the topic is serious, I had to laugh at the very descriptive (and accurate) word, “Thugocracy”! Thanks for this hard-hitting article. I wonder how many of your countrymen realize the extent of China’s robbery? I knew there was some, but not to the extent which you expose. This article makes me wonder how much China has stolen from my homeland of Canada. I know Canadian businesses (like American ones) rushed into China – see big dollar signs!
If I can share a bit here: re my adopted country of C.R., some may know that it’s a “middle income” country. This means that (together with Panama) these 2 nations are “wealthy” compared to the 4 other Central Amer. countries to our north. China was able to get a foot-hold here when our president (at the time) dropped Taiwan in exchange for recognizing mainland China. China rewarded Costa Rica with lots of “free goodies”, including a new,beautiful, national sports stadium. But C.R.’s know that China isn’t playing “Santa Claus”- they’re well aware that China will expect more favours, in return for these ‘goodies’. Thanks Don.