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Politicians and pundits have told us for decades that Chinese leaders would lose their enthusiasm for Communism once they experienced the economic benefits of free trade, and that a growing middle class would begin to demand more political freedom. In Bowing to Beijing, China experts Brett M. Decker and William C. Triplett II examine the results of forty years of free trade with the West, and explain why Red China is a greater threat than ever. Americans bought more than $3 trillion in Chinese imports since 1985, and they own more of our $15 trillion national debt than anyone else. As Decker and Triplett explain, China's Communist leadership continues to view the U.S. as a threat to their regime and they are in the midst of an all-compassing, if unconventional, war against us. Their ongoing hostile acts include extensive cyber-warfare, stealing our military technology, blatantly violating patent and intellectual property laws, buying major stakes in our banks, and manipulating their currency to artificially boost exports to the U.S. Many of the products they sell to American citizens are contaminated or toxic, including paint, toys, medicines, and even food. American companies contribute to the problem as they continue to chase fool's gold in China, lured by the potential 1.3 billion new customers. But China's middle class is only around 100 to 300 million strong, and many of those families only make $114 a month, leaving them little disposable income for expensive imported products. Still, American companies build factories in China and train Chinese workers to run them, only to have their patents, trade secrets and sometimes even their equipment and computers stolen by the Communist government. The influx of dollars into China has also allowed them to fund a massive military build up, with at least a million more troops in uniform than the U.S. Their current annual military budget is at least $92 billion, not including large expenditures on a growing nuclear arsenal, foreign arms purchases and weapons development. China owes no small part of its growing military prowess to high-tech weapon technologies stolen from the U.S. More than 60 Americans -- many of whom had access to military or industrial secrets -- have been prosecuted for spying for China. Officials estimate that the number of Chinese-born spies working for U.S. industry and our government could easily be in the thousands. In the meantime, the Obama administration ignores clear evidence of Chinese aggression, demands cuts in our military budget, and promotes policies that encourage businesses to ship American jobs to China. Obama even bowed before the murderous President Hu Jintao, honoring him with a state dinner when Jintao came to Washington. If you read only one book before the November election, make it Bowing to Beijing. Then ask your favorite presidential candidate to explain his policy position towards China. America faces many threats right now, but perhaps none is greater than Red China. (Regnery Publishing, 2011, 231 pp., $28) |
Trade with the U.S. has made Communist Party members rich, but has done nothing to warm their hearts towards America or democracy. China remains a completely authoritarian state run by Party loyalists; roughly 50% of all major leaders in business, military and government come from the children and grandchildren of those who founded the Communist party with Mao.
