The Patriot Post® · Pompeo Pummels China

Since announcing his campaign for the presidency in 2015, Donald Trump has warned of the threats posed by communist China, largely abetted by previous American presidents. Initially, few politicians appeared to be listening — or at least willing to do anything about it. But events since then, in particular Chinese malfeasance regarding the coronavirus, have proven the president right, and he’s taking bold action, some of which is being led by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Pompeo gave a blistering speech Thursday at the Nixon Library nearly 50 years after President Richard Nixon’s historic trip to China to facilitate a reengagement between the two nations. Pompeo struck a much different chord than Nixon, calling out the communist regime as the world’s biggest threat.

“My remarks,” he said, “are the fourth set of remarks in a series of China speeches that I asked National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien, FBI Director Chris Wray, and the Attorney General Barr to deliver alongside me.” He then explained, “Our goal was to make clear that the threats to Americans that President Trump’s China policy aims to address are clear and our strategy for securing those freedoms established. Ambassador O'Brien spoke about ideology. FBI Director Wray talked about espionage. Attorney General Barr spoke about economics. And now my goal today is to put it all together for the American people and detail what the China threat means for our economy, for our liberty, and indeed for the future of free democracies around the world.”

The secretary spoke of the need for an international coalition to force change in China, saying, “The free world must triumph over this new tyranny.” And he noted that while Chinese President Xi Jinping is a “true believer in a bankrupt totalitarian ideology,” the Chinese Communist Party’s biggest threat might be from within: “The CCP fears the Chinese people’s honest opinions more than any foe.” Given the way the tyrants in Beijing censor and crush dissent, Pompeo is spot on.

Pompeo didn’t mince words in blaming the ChiComs for exploiting the coronavirus, crushing freedom in Hong Kong, and taking an aggressive stance against neighboring Asian countries. He also urged other countries to “push back” against China.

Earlier this week, Pompeo was in the United Kingdom working to forge a partnership between the two countries to deal with the China menace. It appears that Pompeo has convinced Prime Minister Boris Johnson to take the threat seriously. The Washington Free Beacon’s Jack Beyrer writes, “Britain has started to push back on the Chinese tech company’s expanding influence, electing to expel all Huawei technologies from the country’s 5G network by 2027.”

As Joel Gehrke notes in the Washington Examiner, “Johnson hardened his position on Huawei just months after rebuffing Pompeo’s denunciations of the company, a reversal brought about in part by anger over China’s apparent dishonesty about the coronavirus pandemic — a failure that Pompeo underscored during his visit.”

Thanks to American leadership on the issue, Britain finally seems to be moving in the right direction.

Back to Pompeo’s speech, he hit one of Trump’s repeated themes: “What do the American people have to show now 50 years on from engagement with China?”

Not much. “We opened our arms to Chinese citizens, only to see the Chinese Communist Party exploit our free and open society. China sent propagandists into our press conferences, our research centers, our high-schools, our colleges, and even into our PTA meetings,” Pompeo said. “We gave the Chinese Communist Party and the regime itself special economic treatment, only to see the CCP insist on silence over its human rights abuses as the price of admission for Western companies entering China.”

Just this week, two Chinese nationals suspected of hacking into U.S. companies and stealing hundreds of millions of dollars in coronavirus data and other research were indicted by the Justice Department. The president told us back in May (and many times before that) that China was attempting to steal information from us. But much more than coronavirus research is now at stake. According to The Daily Wire, the duo “launched cyber attacks against businesses, organizations, and tech research facilities in at least 11 countries, including the United States, over the course of a decade.”

In response, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy introduced a bill allowing the U.S. to impose sanctions on other countries involved in the hacking of American companies.

Meanwhile, members of the Chinese Consulate-General in Houston were observed burning documents in metal drums on the rooftop courtyard. What were they trying to hide?

China claimed the rash decision to burn papers came after the United States gave it 72 hours to close the consulate. The Chinese also responded by ordering the closure of the U.S. consulate in Chengdu.

On Thursday, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) claimed that the consulate in Houston was the “epicenter of China’s espionage.” But the problem isn’t limited to the Houston facility.

According to The Wall Street Journal, “FBI agents have interviewed Chinese researchers suspected of being undeclared members of the People’s Liberation Army in more than 25 cities, according to some U.S. officials. In some instances, staff at Chinese consulates helped instruct some researchers on security, reminding them to delete information from their electronic devices, the officials said.”

Just think of all the damage that’s already been done after decades of Chinese spying and its infiltration of America’s centers of military, medical, and technological research. That’s not to mention the economic malaise and 144,000 dead Americans due to the China Virus.

Fortunately, after years of bipartisan neglect, President Trump and Secretary Pompeo are committed to holding China accountable. Let’s hope it’s not too late.