Michael Ledeen

The media is <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/05/26/gun-deaths-children-america">pushing</a> this misleading CDC press release because it fits the gun control agenda after the latest school shooting.

<blockquote>
	
		Firearms were the&nbsp;leading cause of death&nbsp;for kids one and older for the first time in 2020, the most recent year for which&nbsp;CDC data&nbsp;is available.

	
		Why it matters:&nbsp;The firearm death rate among children is steadily rising, as more kids are involved in gun-related homicides like Tuesday's&nbsp;mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas,&nbsp;as well as suicides and accidents.
</blockquote>


	Yeah, no.


	The CDC <a href="https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2201761">release</a> to the New England Journal of Medicine, which normally loves to talk up racial demographics in the name of equity, buries them in its appendix. Here's what those look like.


	<img height="519" width="571" class="media-element file-default" data-delta="1" src="https://cms.frontpagemag.com/sites/default/files/uploads/2022/05/cdc_appendix_1.png" alt="" />


	Those aren't school shootings, they're the black nationalists of Black Lives Matter at work.&nbsp;


	Crime shot up due to pro-crime measures, like police defunding and bail elimination, as well as the massive BLM riots. But the impact among most groups, including white people, was limited.


	There was however a massive increase in the already staggeringly high death rate among black kids.


	But this just means that the CDC's numbers for black kids are in line with <a href="https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/09/black-lives-matter-killed-2000-black-people-daniel-greenfield/">black men in general</a>.

<blockquote>
	
		Homicide doesn't even make the CDC's&nbsp;top 10 causes&nbsp;of death for men in America, but it's number four for black men. In 2017, it caused 5% of the deaths of black men, more than strokes, diabetes, or most diseases. The only things more likely to kill black men than black-on-black crime are heart disease, cancer, and accidents.

	
		Among black men under the age of 20, homicide is the leading cause of death at 35.3%.

	
		It's also the leading cause of death for black men from 20-44 years old at 27.6%.

	
		Only at the age of 65 does homicide drop out of the top 10 causes of death for black men.
</blockquote>


	Since we can't blame "white supremacy" for this, we also can't talk about it.&nbsp;


	And the CDC buries this data inside the overall numbers for kids and then tries to act like school shootings, a rare event, have suddenly made guns a leading cause of death for kids.


	Look for the media to keep pushing this same lie, blaming guns, instead of crime and its BLM enablers.

CDC Releases Numbers Showing BLM is Killing Black Kids

The media is pushing this misleading CDC press release because it fits the gun control agenda after the latest school shooting.


	
		Firearms were the

CDC Releases Numbers Showing BLM is Killing Black Kids

Why did school shootings go from being a rare horror to an ongoing phenomenon? A big part of the puzzle is the Columbine Massacre.


	While there were school shootings before Columbine, the media frenzy, the live coverage, was a sea change, and police have often found that school shooters studied the Columbine psychos and wanted to be like them.


	We know mass shooters imitate each other and inspire copycat attacks. That's why school shootings<a href="https://www.center4research.org/copy-cats-kill/"> continue to pop up</a>.

<blockquote>
	
		In the month that followed, 400 related incidents were reported across the country. Students called in bomb threats and praised the shooters’ actions. Some schools feared additional shootings and shut down temporarily.

	
		In 2007, a Virginia Tech student killed 32 students and faculty at the university. Prior to the shooting, he expressed a desire in writing to repeat the shooting at Columbine. Since then, many shooters have cited the Virginia Tech gunman as an inspiration and others have threatened to kill more than the 32 victims killed.

	
		Studies indicate that the more media attention a shooter gets, the more likely the event will inspire a future mass shooter. For example, a 2015 study found that after a mass shooting, there was an increased chance of another one occurring in the next 13 days.&nbsp;A 2017 study found that media coverage of a mass shooting may increase the frequency and lethality of future shootings for much longer than two weeks.
</blockquote>


	The media knows perfectly well <a href="http://www.danielgreenfield.org/2013/02/the-wrong-track.html">the impact that it has</a>.

<blockquote>
	
		Suicides spike after front page coverage of a suicide. After Marilyn Monroe's death, 197 more people killed themselves than the statistical norm. Suicides rise even after fictional suicides on soap operas. And murders are also influenced by the coverage of real and fictional murders.
</blockquote>


	The internet makes the genie harder to put back in the bottle, but the media doesn't even try.


	Columbine broke the unspoken rule about covering teenage suicides to avoid the copycat effect. The media breaks it every time since while blaming Republicans for not abolishing the Bill of Rights. The media understands perfectly well that it's promoting similar mass killings and it wants that to happen because it helps its agenda.

The Media's Obsession With School Shootings is Killing Kids

Why did school shootings go from being a rare horror to an ongoing phenomenon? A big part of the puzzle is the Columbine Massacre.


	While there were

The Media's Obsession With School Shootings is Killing Kids

“The Second Amendment is not absolute. When it was passed you couldn’t own a cannon, you couldn’t own certain kinds of weapons. There’s just always been limitations," Biden <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/3501244-the-haunting-reason-congress-wont-pass-sensible-gun-laws/">insisted</a>, during remarks exploiting the mass shooting in Texas.


	The thing about Biden is that he tells the same lies, gets called on it, and does it again.&nbsp;


	He does it when talking about his own made-up biography and when discussing America.&nbsp;


	Biden's dumb "cannon" line has been repeatedly fact-checked to death even by mainstream media outlets.


	Here's Glenn Kessler at the Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/06/28/bidens-false-claim-that-2nd-amendment-bans-cannon-ownership/">dealing with</a> this same Biden line last year.

<blockquote>
	
		“And I might add: The Second Amendment, from the day it was passed, limited the type of people who could own a gun and what type of weapon you could own. You couldn’t buy a cannon.”
</blockquote>


	As Kessler noted then, "In this case, he repeated a claim — that Americans were prohibited from owning cannons — that has already been&nbsp;fact-checked as false&nbsp;when he made it during the presidential campaign."


	Variations of this same lie had already been fact-checked by lefty fact-checkers like Politifact. That's how completely groundless it is.


	And yet it says something that Biden and, quite likely, his staffers won't stop pushing the same lie. And that there's no actual accountability for it. When the media disagreed with something Trump said, they made a spectacle of it, they would assemble lists of what they claimed were lies and declared that political norms were being violated.


	Nothing like that for Biden, who we're told never lies, just "misspeaks". Again and again and again.

Biden Lies About Gun Control Again

“The Second Amendment is not absolute. When it was passed you couldn’t own a cannon, you couldn’t own certain kinds of weapons. There’s just always been

Wokeness is a symptom of brokeness. The harder they virtue signal, the worse they are at doing their jobs.


	Anyone who thought that San Francisco schools were going to dump the absurd wokeness and focus on education has <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/SFUSD-drops-the-word-chief-from-job-titles-17199311.php">another thing</a> coming.

<blockquote>
	
		The word “chief” will no longer be used in reference to job titles in the San Francisco Unified School District in an effort, school officials said, to avoid the word’s connotation with Native Americans.
</blockquote>


	One can only imagine how the parents who watched their children's education<a href="https://sfstandard.com/education/new-data-show-s-f-public-school-students-slipped-further-behind-amid-pandemic/"> get nuked</a> feel about the exciting new SFUSD focus.

<blockquote>
	
		In math, every student group saw a drop in proficiency from the year prior, though some drops were more pronounced. Thirty-eight percent of African American students were marked “Proficient or above” in 2020-21, down from 46% one year earlier. Pacific Islander students with “Proficient of above” math marks dropped to 47% from 60%. District-wide proficiency was at 67%, down from 74%.
</blockquote>


	Now it's fixed though.


	If the scores drop anymore, teachers will get another raise, SFUSD will spend a fortune on equity consultants and rename some schools.&nbsp;


	That's bound to work, chief.

SF School System Solves 38% Black Student Proficiency Problem With Wokeness

Wokeness is a symptom of brokeness. The harder they virtue signal, the worse they are at doing their jobs.


	Anyone who thought that San Francisco schools

SF School System Solves 38% Black Student Proficiency Problem With Wokeness

Another way of reading this is that the majority party has abandoned its legislative agenda and will govern through executive orders while trying to hold test votes on whatever outrage is trending right now.


	Is this supposed to turn the public against Republicans?


	Since no one pays attention to Senate&nbsp;votes, mostly it's a stop-loss effort to placate furious Dem donors.


	Schumer tried this with abortion and it didn't go anywhere. Next up, <a href="https://thehill.com/news/senate/3502557-schumer-vows-to-force-vote-on-gun-control-legislation-after-memorial-day-recess/">guns, guns, guns</a>.

<blockquote>
	
		Senate Majority Leader&nbsp;Charles Schumer&nbsp;(D-N.Y.) told colleagues Thursday morning that they should be prepared to vote on gun control legislation when they return to Washington next month after the Memorial Day recess, promising a showdown with Republicans after mass shootings in New York and Texas this month left 31 people dead.
</blockquote>


	Next&nbsp;week, it'll be more BLM or #MeToo or whatever is trending in the media right now.


	This is what virtue signaling defeatism looks like.


	Schumer is announcing his own irrelevance.

Schumer Will Continue Holding Meaningless Votes on Whatever Issue is Trending Right Now

Another way of reading this is that the majority party has abandoned its legislative agenda and will govern through executive orders while trying to hold test

Schumer Will Continue Holding Meaningless Votes on Whatever Issue is Trending Right Now

China has long held a distinct advantage in the field of competitive intelligence, with its enormous edge in population.&nbsp; This enables the People’s Republic to penetrate anywhere with a substantial ethnic Chinese population bloc with consummate ease, either by offering substantial amounts of money to potential allies or threatening to crack down on reluctant collaborators.


	The Chinese have an ancient drive toward ethnic unity, and they do not accept the division of their people into tribes or clans. The current dictator, Xi, regards this unity in racial terms.&nbsp; He believes that all Chinese share common characteristics, wherever they are born or raised.&nbsp; Hence Xi believes that all Chinese owe obeisance to the rule of China itself. &nbsp;


	It was no great surprise, then, when the United States discovered China at the heart of an espionage ring in the United Arab Emirates. The U.A.E. is one of the closest United States allies in the Middle East and has long manufactured American weapons and ammunition parts, but until recently there were only suspicions, not facts, to support the suspicions.&nbsp; So far as Washington could tell, the U.A.E. was unaware of the military content of the Chinese project. So far as Washington could tell, the U.A.E. was unaware of the suspicions.&nbsp; As the Wall Street Journal put the matter recently, the Middle East increasingly appears to be a primary ground for U.S.-Chinese competition.


	The Chinese effort to penetrate the U.A.E. began like many of its previous espionage ventures, with considerable investment.&nbsp; They apparently hoped to expand their outreach into directly manufacturing American equipment.&nbsp; But their plot was discovered by American counter-espionage in time to prevent its fulfillment, and the plot was foiled.


	The Chinese had previously started their military expansion in Djibouti in 2017 to facilitate their operations in the Indian Ocean area.&nbsp; Two years later, the Chinese signed a secret agreement to use a naval base, and in recent years they have expanded their outreach to include Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and the operation in the U.A.E. was to round off the effort.&nbsp; The U.S. uncovered the Chinese operation thanks to satellite photography of the port area, and undertook to convince the Emiratis that the Chinese were up to no good.&nbsp; The Emiratis were willing to be convinced, and a month ago a top U.A.E. official lamented that his country was very worried that a new Cold War might be in the offing, and did not wish to make a choice between two sides. 
	 
	This is the first time I know of that the Biden Administration has prevailed over the Chinese, and it is significant that the instrument for this victory was photography from outer space.&nbsp; The Chinese have long worked to equal America’s space arm, but the evidence from the U.A.E. adventure suggests they have failed.&nbsp; They have seemingly failed both to disguise their intentions and to conceal their methods. Top American officials apparently had the matter unraveled by the end of September, when National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan traveled to the Emirates along with top White House aide Brett McGurk and intensely debriefed the Emiratis.&nbsp; Other debriefings have followed, including a second trip by McGurk to meet with the Crown Prince, and carry out an inspection of the site. This visit led to the apparent cancellation of the Chinese deal. 
	 
	No one can forecast accurately what the competition will look like over the coming near term, nor what blunders one side or the other will commit, but the events of the past few months have indicated the possibility of an abrupt change.&nbsp; The U.A.E. adventure represents a potential giant step along that path.

Foiling a Chinese Military Operation in the United Arab Emirates

China has long held a distinct advantage in the field of competitive intelligence, with its enormous edge in population.&nbsp; This enables the People’s

The Chinese economy is slowing down, and it is not at all clear there is an easy path to recovery. There is a substantial list of corporations facing shutdown, led by Evergrande and others in the real estate business.&nbsp; Evergrande accounts for roughly one-third of Chinese gross domestic product, and others, such as Modern Land (China), and Fantasia defaulting on debts. The Chinese reently offered to swap overdue bonds from Yango Group for new issues, but the outcome was still uncertain. Several smaller companies have defaulted recently, and Evergrande’s final outcome will not be known for several months. Dictator Xi will be running for a third term, and decisions will have to be made on the Beijing Winter Olympics. Under the circumstances, it will be some time next year before the outcomes of these teetering egg shells will be known.&nbsp;


	But these outcomes will not be sunny ones. Many, if not most, of the delayed settlements are delayed because of political reasons, not because of hard facts. The Yango Group offer, for example, came wrapped in gift foil, and the Group asked international investors to swap $747 million of dollar debt for new bonds, blaming its usual financing channels for the cash shortage. It seems that Yango is not accountable for its failure to make scheduled payments, and time is required to reschedule new payments.


	As the&nbsp;Wall Street Journal&nbsp;wrote on Tuesday, “Tighter government policy, credit issues and deteriorating sentiment have temporarily shut down” various refinancing methods and put great pressure on our short term liquidity, in the words of Yango leaders.&nbsp;


	The Yango offer was not very hot.&nbsp; A bond that matures in 2024 is currently selling for less than twenty cents per dollar, and early in the week none of the major companies had published an opinion on Yango Group’s proposal.


	Evergrande is the biggest name out there, but few expect to hear meaningful news about the future of the company in the near future. Meanwhile, China is unlikely to do anything melodramatic, giving the United States a much-needed breath of fresh air. One can well anticipate an easing of tension between the two superpowers, and even a bit of arms control. Yango’s third quarter income dropped 18% compared with a year ago, a significant fall.&nbsp;


	And so we wait.

Is China Cooling Down?

The Chinese economy is slowing down, and it is not at all clear there is an easy path to recovery. There is a substantial list of corporations facing shutdown

It seems that the Chinese economy is falling, and there may be no one to bail them out. In a wave of recent reports, we see the contraction of the national economy, especially intense in the north. There have been blackouts and power failures across the area, and while the problems began in factories they have now spread to homes, a trend that is forecast to spread as time passes.


	The most alarming case is that of the real estate colossus Evergrande, whose debt is so large that default is a real possibility, and thereafter a rash of defaults across the world. Evergrande is a global threat, menacing a worldwide outburst of indebtedness, with all the dreadful consequences that go along with it.


	Evergrande is not the only menace. As The Epoch Times wrote recently, dictator Xi seems to be saying that he doesn't want a society that is individualistic, but rather a mass of citizens who see their role as supporting and following the state. He has purged hundreds of thousands of top officials from Party ranks in the recent past, and promises to do more of the same in the near future. The state has been selling commodities for the first time in a decade, and released oil from its strategic reserves for the first time in ten years. The Chinese are selling off their resources.


	On October 4th, Evergrande, unable to meet its obligations, suspended sales of its stock. Over the past 20 years, more than 20 percent of the French Jewish population has left France, with a notable increase of those emigres going to Israel. The French are not happy with public education in their home country, and much prefer Israeli methods.&nbsp;


	Evergrande is the biggest company to suspend trading to date, and it will resume activity next week, following a week's suspension of stock market activity.&nbsp; What will happen?&nbsp; Xi&nbsp; seems eager to put an end to unbridled trading, and to bring Chinese manufacturers under ever more rigid state control. When Jack Ma, the founder and CEO of Alibaba made a public speech that was critical of the nation's (that is, of Dictator XI's) crackdown on Chinese business, he disappeared for several days.&nbsp; Ma has since been a low-profile actor, and Xi has focused on relations with Taiwan, warning the island that it was only a matter of time before China undertook military action against it. This goes hand in hand with the mainland's efforts to pressure Taiwan's government into reintegrating with the People's Republic. The United States was meanwhile increasing military sales, and sending top Defense Department officials to Taipei. As an American expert on Taiwan put it, this arrangement favored increased Western influence. "You can't divorce the technology completely from the society that produced it."&nbsp;


	Xi was evidently trying to resist.&nbsp; But Taiwan has elected a new, nationalist administration that has vowed to advance the country's ability to defend itself, and the growing friendship with America indicates that Biden is willing to play ball in that game.


	Stay tuned.

Is China Falling?

It seems that the Chinese economy is falling, and there may be no one to bail them out. In a wave of recent reports, we see the contraction of the national

The Taliban have conquered Afghanistan, and the United States is reeling. So far as we can tell, with the exception of Panshir, Taliban forces dominate the fighting throughout the country, and the reporting&nbsp;from Panshir&nbsp;is incoherent, sometimes favoring one side, sometimes the other. The last time they clashed, the anti-Taliban forces prevailed, and they are hoping for a repeat performance.&nbsp;


	Only time will tell whether the Taliban forces have improved dramatically since they defeated the Soviets more than twenty years ago, or whether the anti-Taliban fighters will prove unequal to the new challenge. The United States has done its best, dumping a substantial quantity of weapons and ammunition into Taliban arms. If they prevail, President Biden and his crew will be entitled to lots of credit for having armed the Taliban.


	The big winner in Afghanistan is the People's Republic of China, and it could not have come at a better time.&nbsp; China has been passing through a fundamental transformation, increasing central control over the national culture, purging independent thinkers and doers, and making it clear that Xi Jinping wants a tougher and more bellicose nation under his control. To that end, he has banned effeminate actors from the country's movie screens.


	Xi has called for tighter Chinese Communist Party (CCP) control of business, education, culture, and religion. Companies and the public are under increasing pressure to align with the CCP’s vision, and the young Chinese are constantly drilled in the basic elements of masculinity.


	Broadcasters must “resolutely put an end to sissy men and other abnormal aesthetics,” the National Radio and TV Administration said, using an insulting slang term for effeminate men—“niang pao,” or literally, “girlie guns.” After all, Chinese global hegemony will rest on male virtue, not on niang pao, and Xi intends to lay an explicit basis for the new generations. He intends to raise a new generation with the proper attitudes, a surly growl for strangers, and unlimited confidence in the rightness of their cause.


	As conflicting reports flow out of the Panshir, it is obvious that there is a lot of killing going on, and it is difficult, if not impossible, to sort out winners from losers. Today there were videos from Panshir, allegedly documenting intense fighting from last night, and audio reports of ongoing gunfire as well. Moreover, there were claims from the State Department taking credit for smuggling an American family by land out of Afghanistan. But a private US group, headed by US&nbsp;veterans of the war in Afghanistan, was taking credit for the operation, and blasting State for ineptitude and cowardice.


	Meanwhile, the Chinese Government was announcing plans to restrict viewing of online computer games, declaring it illegal to play between Monday and Thursday, while permitting one hour of play on weekends, on Fridays and on holidays. The scheme was designed in order to facilitate penetration of Chinese computers and download information about non-Chinese users of computer games. It turns out that roughly half of the world's population are game players, a target-rich environment for would-be penetrators, that the Chinese are eager to infiltrate. Beijing just passed a new maritime reporting requirement that Vice Admiral Michael McAllister, the US Coast Guard's leading&nbsp;commander in the&nbsp;Pacific, said violated existing agreements and norms.


	In fact, McAllister added, if China chose to enforce the requirement, it would “begin to build foundations for instability and potential conflicts.” McAllister had warned that the United States would study the new requirements very carefully before deciding whether or not to comply with them.

Desert Wars

The Taliban have conquered Afghanistan, and the United States is reeling. So far as we can tell, with the exception of Panshir, Taliban forces dominate the

China seems to be reversing its long-standing policy of asserting its entitlement to&nbsp;global hegemony. This reversal dates back&nbsp;at least a year, when Chinese dictator Xi called for a change in Chinese diplomacy, following the arrival in Taiwan of an American C-17 military transport from a base in South Korea, with three members of Congress on board.


	The Chinese government lashed out at the United States, accusing it of violating signed agreements between the two countries. These agreements detailed a "one-China policy" that locked the United States into dealing only with China, and keeping its distance from Taiwan. So the decision to send three US diplomats to Taipei on board an American military transport provoked the People's Republic no end. In their coverage of the event, the Chinese press failed to mention that the United States had provided a military transport for its three Congressional leaders. As a ranking expert on China put it, the goal of Beijing is "political warfare," which is the "front line of (Chinese) efforts to achieve that number one position in terms of comprehensive national power."


	The Chinese were not eager to advertise the fact of the C-17, because it revealed America's global military outreach and was likely to encourage other countries in the region to increase their distance from Beijing. The case of India was particularly notable. Instead of talking about the border between India and China, the Indians--in their broadcasting and other public statements--are referring to the "Indo-Tibet" boundary. Instead of talking about the South China Sea, Indian spokespersons are referring to the ASEAN Sea.&nbsp;


	Language is very important, especially between the world's biggest countries. China's change in official language bespeaks real change in the world, because it challenges the long-lasting claim from Beijing that only an authoritarian regime can effectively run a nation of a billion people. If India proves to be equally successful, it proves that a democratic regime can be as effective as an authoritarian one. Indians view this as an ongoing competition between the two gigantic countries, who have fought across each other's borders for decades, with implications&nbsp;throughout the region.


	For many decades, China was attempting to become the world's leading manufacturer, but the change in official language shows that India is waging effective warfare, and, as recent events demonstrate, Taiwan does so as well. The arrival of a C-17 in Taiwan was a clear warning from Washington that the Pacific Ocean would be defended, with military power if needs be. Taiwan is clearly a possible relocation for Chinese global ambitions, and a bill is pending to sell the Taiwanese a new generation of American arms, including howitzers.&nbsp;


	The package would include the howitzers, more than a thousand and a half guidance kits for spares, training, ground stations and upgrades for Taiwan's previous generation of howitzers. A formal vote is pending.


	China is in the midst of a serious reconsideration of policy, toning down traditionally bellicose themes in favor of calmer ones. Its traditional enemy, India, has recently launched a new aircraft carrier, and closer relations between India and the United States extend&nbsp;throughout the entire society. If, as rumor has it, the Indians are going to purchase the latest Russian anti-aircraft system, that would provide a basis for Chinese penetration of Indian defenses. It would lay the groundwork for Chinese espionage in India, and make it possible for Beijing to expand its activities in the Indian region.


	Exciting times.

China in Retreat?

China seems to be reversing its long-standing policy of asserting its entitlement to&nbsp;global hegemony. This reversal dates back&nbsp;at least a year, when

The Chinese are warning about an impending nuclear war if the United States does not cease its investigation into the origins of the COVID pandemic. They warn that the Americans must call off their probe into the sources of the disease -- a warning which has prompted many American analysts to conclude that the leaders in Beijing fear discovery of the truth: that they -- the Chinese Communists -- are the source of the pandemic.


	The Chinese Communists have long experimented with bioweapons, and have apparently&nbsp;continued the nasty habit, both recruiting Western scientists and putting them to work on Chinese projects, and smuggling Westerners into projects within China itself. One of the world's top China experts, British citizen Roger Garside, foresees a mounting crisis, since Beijing will have to confront a triple whammy:&nbsp; a financial crisis, a moral vacuum, and widespread corruption. In an interview he gave recently about his new book, Garside summarized the situation grimly: China is outwardly strong but inwardly weak.


	The oil-sector protesters stressed that they will continue their strike and will further expand their activities if their demands are not met. The demonstrations&nbsp;have been spectacularly effective and continue to grow.


	According to the "official" statistics, the expansion of the strikes has been little short of amazing. Since the beginning of the strike, the movement has expanded to more than 70 companies in more than a dozen cities, including Tehran, Arak, Isfahan, Ahvaz, Abadan, Mahshahr, Jask, Gachsaran, Damavand, Behbehan, Bushehr, Kangan, Qeshm, Khark, Urmia, Kerma, Bandar Abbas, and Ilam. Given the poor reporting from Iran, it's necessary to assume that the real numbers are substantially higher.


	The strikers have gathered global enthusiasm, including explicit support from the United States Department of State, and now from the White House.


	The Biden Administration has kept the worst of Trump’s policies in the Middle East, and reversed the best policies. The people of Afghanistan already endure the catastrophic results while the Lebanese suffer the indignities of defeat and invasion. “Ending endless wars” unites Trump/Biden, and will only result in more wars, US entanglements, and challenges from enemies around the world.


	The most dramatic contrast is the ongoing conflict between India and China, which also entails an ideological conflict. The Chinese assert that a ruthless totalitarian regime is required to effectively govern a nation of more than a billion souls, while the Indians argue that only a democratic government can effectively manage such a task.


	Both regimes have sent substantial numbers of troops to the borders, and China's dictator recently proclaimed that it might be time for a change in Chinese public statements. Xi Jinping told a meeting of the Politburo that Beijing needed to make its international statements more "credible, likable and respectable."


	Such sentiments may reflect a desire to make China more attractive, and to downplay the longstanding style of Chinese "wolf-warrior" propaganda.


	Time will tell.

China Threatens Nuclear War if U.S. Continues Investigating COVID-19 Origins

The Chinese are warning about an impending nuclear war if the United States does not cease its investigation into the origins of the COVID pandemic. They warn

Red China constantly rethinks how it will become the world's leading superpower, and plans accordingly. The&nbsp;Epoch Times has just published a detailed plan delivered in a speech in July, 2016, laying out how the People's Republic can overtake the United States as the world's leading nation. Professor Jin Canrong, from the School of International Studies in Beijing, explained how the PRC, following Xi Jinping's call for&nbsp;a national&nbsp;rejuvenation, could accomplish it.


	The speech, kept secret until now, combined four elements: 1) weakening the United States by becoming increasingly involved in American affairs, and 2) infiltrating Chinese agents into the U.S. political system. The object would be to control the outcome of American elections. Jin calculated that it is possible to bring pro-Chinese candidates to power in House elections to ensure pro-Chinese policies. Although difficult, Professor Jin believed it was doable.


	The speech made this explicit: "The Chinese Government wants to arrange Chinese investments in every single congressional district to control thousands of voters in each district..." This would give Beijing effective control of the House of Representatives. "If China has thousands of votes on hand, China will be the boss of the candidate."


	The Chinese have long pursued control over American politics, and direct control over American corporations was one of the most obvious and attractive routes. Not only were such investments likely to be profitable, they were also a key step to putting Beijing in charge of the U.S. economy. Beijing and Washington worked for more than a decade to arrive at a Bilateral Investment Treaty, but failed to reach agreement. Trump then put an end to the process.


	President Biden seems inclined to resume the search for such a treaty.


	At the same time, China 3) increased its theft of advanced American technology. Professor Jin made it clear that Beijing had stolen technology for its J-20 fighter jet and DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missile, and that illegal theft was the only way to accomplish it, since the United States did not sell such technology to China. Meanwhile, 4) the Beijing regime expanded its control over nearby real estate, such as by building artificial islands and constructing military outposts on them.


	No doubt, the Chinese have paid a great deal of attention to DARPA, the Defense Department's Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Pentagon's ambitious and highly successful research and development project. Although DARPA developed breakthrough technologies, the really important inventions were not what the agency set out to find. As David Goldman notes, virtually every technological breakthrough in the digital age started with a DARPA mission, and ended with an unimagined something totally unique. We were blessed with political leadership that challenged America across the board, with leaders such as Kennedy and Reagan. In Goldman's words, our political leaders gave us challenges that inspired Americans to create things and ideas that none of us had imagined before.


	The Biden administration does not seem to be THAT sort of government. But then, Beijing isn't all that inspirational, either.

China Rising

Red China constantly rethinks how it will become the world's leading superpower, and plans accordingly. The&nbsp;Epoch Times has just published a detailed plan

The general consensus is that the top two Biden Administration officials -- Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan -- were outperformed in Alaska last week by their Chinese equivalents. The first, and so far as we know the most dramatic, example of Chinese showmanship came from Jang Jiechi, Beijing's top foreign-policy official. Talking for nearly half an hour instead of the customary two minutes, Jang lambasted the Biden Administration's human rights policy, and went on with a systematic demolition of its foreign policy "rules."

<div>
	Nothing of the sort took place during Trump's presidency. The Chinese adhered to the prearranged rules, including the time limits on individual contributions. Nor did Beijing's representatives ridicule the American positions, as they did last Thursday and Friday.&nbsp;</div>

<div>
	&nbsp;</div>

<div>
	One is hard-pressed to explain President Biden's statement after the Thursday session that he was "proud" of the performance of Secretary of State Blinken, when most of the coverage gave a very different picture. If you read the press coverage from the rest of the world, you will get a clear picture of Chinese hegemony, whether in the debate or in the maneuvers between the two superpowers.&nbsp;</div>

<div>
	&nbsp;</div>

<div>
	To take just one example: the military press headlined the Chinese "humiliation" of the Americans, and focused at considerable length on Zang's diatribe at the outset of the talks. And to add insult to injury, Beijing introduced a new requirement: that would-be travelers to the People's Republic be vaccinated with a drug of Chinese manufacture. 
	 
	In other words, the Chinese ran rings around the Americans, and let it be known that China, not the United States, would set the agenda of talks between the two superpowers. The historic role of Washinghton had thus been reversed, and the Americans would have to defend their record against Beijing's criticisms.</div>

<div>
	&nbsp;</div>

<div>
	The most shocking thing about the sessions was the failure of American preparation for the Chinese assault. The top two representatives from Washington sat mutely by as the Chinese humiliation dragged on. The U.S. response came a day later and was at a far lower level than Beijing's opening critique of Biden's foreign policy.</div>

<div>
	&nbsp;</div>

<div>
	Better luck next time.</div>

China Humiliates Biden's Team in Alaska

The general consensus is that the top two Biden Administration officials -- Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan --

Rush Limbaugh has died. We knew for many months that it was coming, but it was still a stunning blow. Many of us believed he would find a way to fight back against the deadly virus and perhaps even defeat it. But it was not to be. He joins the long list of victims and leaves us without the midday guidance that had become an irreplaceable part of our daily routine.


	What can be done? Is there a remedy?


	He was a political genius, able to see behind the smokescreens that routinely obscure our understanding of human motivation, and saw our leaders with a clarity that dazzled our minds. He was a Trump supporter, maybe his greatest supporter, and grasped the appeal of the former president to more than 75 million voters. He was not gulled by the East Coast elites, who were followers of the fashionable intellectuals who mostly supported Biden and opposed Trump.


	I don't know anyone&nbsp;with the same intuition and&nbsp;the same sense of humor, and certainly his skills--from face-to-face interviews to to his ability to grasp our leaders' inner desires--were unique, as was his ability to understand the motives for media's perverse revolt against the values that had made them crucial to the country's success.


	All of this suggests that Rush's death is truly unique, and that it will not be easy to replace&nbsp;him. He had a great talent for spotting talented replacements, but none one of them was able to replace him, even for three hours, let alone on a permanent&nbsp; basis.


	It's not simply a matter of finding someone with similar skills, but rather with the rare combination of talents that Rush possessed; there's a need for someone with the same unique sense of humor, the same ability to laugh at ourselves, and the ability&nbsp;to use the English language with the same common sense that Rush did. His ability to talk to us in the same terms we use in everyday speech gave him a credibility that nobody else possessed, and opened to us the world of professional politicians. That is what gave him his unprecedented&nbsp;outreach and unmatched appeal. His ability to communicate with normal Americans gave him a sense of friendship with his audience unmatched by anyone else in the business, and it is why his loss was so definitive.


	That explains his amazing role in the revival of radio in American life.&nbsp; When he began his career, radio was largely washed up and television was the main medium. By the time of his death, there had been a dramatic expansion of radio, both AM and FM, and we now see that Rush's role was central to its expansion. Whether or not radio will continue to play a central&nbsp;role in American public life remains to be seen. It is certainly essential for an entire generation&nbsp;of our citizens, and it will certainly play a major role in the future. All this change was essentially due to the genius of one man, and the joint efforts of a team that largely stayed intact for twenty years regardless of health and other such considerations. The key person in this development was James Golden, Rush's black best friend and producer. He has successfully fought off cancer for many years, and his success gave many the hope that Rush&nbsp; would do the same. Few knew that Rush's best friend and most trusted collaborator was black, nor would it have served to undermine the widespread conviction that Rush was a racist, a conviction that remained strong throughout his life, even though there was abundant evidence the notion was false.


	But such evidence was rarely part of the great debate at the center of which Rush ruled supreme. He was on the other side of the debate, and was consequently presumed guilty of the sins that characterized the bad guys,


	If the left wins the great debate of our time, such facts will be assumed to be the essence of our political world. In that imaginary world, Rush will play a major role, not the utterly race-free advocate of freedom and independent thought and action that was his true role in American life. I did several interviews with him, and one conversation for his newsletter. Each was a singular pleasure, and each reached a spectacularly enormous audience, far larger than the group&nbsp;reached by critics. His questions went&nbsp;to the heart of our fierce national debates, and made clear who and why they were opposed to the actual language of the Constitution.


	How can such a person be replaced? Even if we could find a man or woman with the full array of brains and language skills, we would be hard-pressed to find someone with the personality, the sense of humor and the range of contacts with which Rush disposed.


	It seems hopeless.


	Perhaps that is the right answer.&nbsp; When someone as important as Rush leaves us, it is utterly predictable that he will prove irreplaceable. There is no reason to be surprised, and every reason to believe he will be unique.


	That is our current&nbsp;fix. We need to await developments and hope for the best.

Rush Limbaugh: Unique Political Genius

Rush Limbaugh has died. We knew for many months that it was coming, but it was still a stunning blow. Many of us believed he would find a way to fight back

Michael Ledeen is a Shillman Fellow of the David Horowitz Freedom Center.


	Just how big is China? Plenty big. It's big enough to hold more than a billion human beings, and it has managed to keep workers employed, and to encourage them to save nearly half their annual income. China's performance in the 21st century is most impressive, with large official gains in imports and exports, and most significant numbers are up.


	The problem is that China keeps inventing its numbers. For decades, regional and local administrations have lied to the federal government about their performance. This tactic enables regional governments to reduce the taxes they pay to Peking, and also to hide funds they pay overseas&nbsp;agents for espionage work.&nbsp;


	Approximately every ten hours there's a new case. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is studying the&nbsp; possibility of opening a new counter-intelligence center to increase the efficiency of their work against the Chinese. Experts who have studied Chinese data have concluded that it is systematically falsified, and a new counter-intelligence center would help sort it all out. Moreover, a new center would enable the American intelligence community to penetrate the network that provides China with its many sources of information.


	In recent weeks, leading scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have been indicted on charges of smuggling classified information from the United States to China. Professor Gang Chen was arrested in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and charged with wire fraud, lying on his federal income tax return and failing to report a foreign bank account. Prosecutors said he was acting out of loyalty to China, with whom he had collaborated at least since 2012 in a variety of ways, at the same time receiving 19 million dollars' worth of assistance from unreported Chinese sources.


	There are several such cases, many of which are as yet uncovered, and the FBI's push for a new anti-Chinese counterintelligence center underlines the seriousness with which the government views the matter. And while they're at it, the bureaucrats could fold several layers of manpower into their new center; Customs, for example, siezed 25,000 phony Viagra pills in Los Angeles&nbsp;ports last month, along with tens of thousands of pairs of counterfeit shoes, jewelry and the standard supply of electronics. And during the past year, roughly 51 per cent of anti-virus paraphernalia was sent from China.


	Chinese spokespersons gave most of the credit to the United States, and called for Washington to open its laboratories at Fort Dietrich, Maryland. This is a replay of Soviet disinformation during the Cold War, and an attempt to suppress criticism of Chinese products. There is widespread refusal within China itself to take the domestic product, with significant numbers of people saying that Chinese leaders should be the first to take the drugs.


	But this pushback against Chinese medicine is rarely reported in the Western press, which simply reports official statements critical of American products.


	And so American mass media play the Chinese game.

China: Disinformation, Espionage, and Lies

Michael Ledeen is a Shillman Fellow of the David Horowitz Freedom Center.


	Just how big is China? Plenty big. It's big enough to hold more than a billion

It has long been clear that Chinese data has been systematically distorted by Chinese reporters themselves. The first statement to this effect was made in the initial report by the Joint Congressional Commission, of which I was co-author, which stated that all Chinese data were based on a hoax. I have repeated this claim several times.


	The motive for this distortion is easily discerned: the taxes levied on the provinces by the central government, once the data have been filed. The provincial governments do not wish to share their wealth with the federal government, and hence they deliberately understate their income. The net effect of these changes is to report inflated income at the federal level, restrict the overall taxation of the provinces, and increase cash flow to provincial government treasuries. That is why the cash flow to the central government has been so low for such a long time. It is also the reason for the ongoing investigations by the Chinese federal government into regional withholding by regional administrations, and mounting accusations of cheating against regional officers.


	China penetrates Communist Party organizations all over the world to make sure it knows what competing parties are up to, and to spread disinformation about pro-Soviet operations. The struggle between pro-Chinese and pro-Russian forces has been very intense for several decades, and is likely to continue for many decades. The newfound friendship between Beijing and Moscow has not brought peace to the two powers, as they compete for global hegemony. There is limited cooperation, but nothing like a strategic alliance. There is no treaty between the two former superpowers, and no detailed agreement on how to wage a mutual war against their common enemies in the West, from North America to Central and South America, from Europe to Israel, from Australia to New Zealand.


	The great debate over the future of China has centered on her choices in the near term. These are largely cultural choices. Will Beijing follow the American model, thereby creating ideological and political rigidity that would make it impossible for the Chinese to compete effectively in the international marketplace? Or will they instead find a way to compete with the West?


	It has long been a basic assumption of modern geopolitics that contemporary creativity requires free experimentation, and that systems imposing hard-and-fast rules are destined to fail. That is why modern authoritarian states have employed subversion so extensively. Copying the Western production methods has enabled them to make products similar to our own, while depending on us to develop the technology and assembly lines required to make the system work.&nbsp;


	It is up to the West to deceive China, luring Beijing to steal technology that doesn't work, thereby preserving the real secrets of our military system, and enabling us to penetrate the enemy network. If we fail to do this, we leave the Chinese in firm control of modern military technology, and their own increasingly well-trained and disciplined men and women.

China Marches On

It has long been clear that Chinese data has been systematically distorted by Chinese reporters themselves. The first statement to this effect was made in the

I don’t believe that sanctions against Iran are good enough, although, as I have written before, the Iranian regime is so hollow it could crash at any&nbsp;time. At my advanced age, I still don’t believe I have seen an oppressive regime fall simply because life in its land had become unbearable.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;


	Look around the world, and pick your favorite failed dictatorship. My short list runs from Pyongyang to Caracas, via Tehran and Havana. They are all under sanctions. Their people are miserable, and detest the regime. In some places, there are demonstrations, even huge ones. Yet, from North Korea to Venezuela, the regime isn’t headed for the exits. It cracks down. In some places, such as Venezuela and Iran, the people continue to demonstrate and call for regime change. I think the Islamic Republic of Iran is doomed, and this is pretty much demonstrated by the events of the past few weeks, culminating in the fiasco on Sunday. Successful evolutions require several things, including manifest failure of the regime, widespread contempt from the overwhelming majority of the people, and a palpable inability of the leaders to impose themselves on the country.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;


	Sunday provided a clear test of the strength of the regime and its supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. The occasion was the anniversary of the 1979 Revolution that overthrew the Shah and imposed a theological dictatorship. Khamenei, President Rouhani, and their henchmen were eager to demonstrate that the Iranian people actually support the regime, and that the widespread anti-regime demonstrations of the past month were the marginal consequences of foreign&nbsp;meddling, not genuine passion. Hence the mullahs called for monster rallies to celebrate the 39 years of Islamic Revolution.&nbsp;


	It didn’t work. Turnout was shockingly low, and in fact there were scores of anti-regime demonstrations. Speeches by regime supporters were interrupted, and women brandished hijabs in acts of defiance. A fiasco for the regime.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;


	The regime knows its days are numbered. You can see this by watching the relentless increase in the oppression of the Iranian people. Last time I checked, there were half again as many executions under Rouhani as there had been under Ahmadinejad, the former often described as “moderate,” while the latter was considered some kind of bloodthirsty murderer. Today Rouhani sits at the right hand of the chief tyrant, while Ahmadinejad is under house arrest, as are the leaders of the Green Movement who challenged his legitimacy after the phony elections of 2009. Rouhani is forever promising reform, but delivers only mayhem.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;


	The most recent horror is the “suicide” of a beloved environmentalist,&nbsp;Kavous&nbsp;Emami. He was arrested on January 24th, and was suicided within two weeks. Hardly anyone believes he killed&nbsp;himself; he&nbsp;was undoubtedly executed, as even the very cautious New York&nbsp;Times&nbsp;Iran correspondent made clear. And the Iran Sociology Association also spoke out: "The information published about him is not believable and&nbsp;we expect officials to respond and to provide the public with information concerning his death."&nbsp;


	Emami&nbsp;was one of many scientists warning of a nationwide water shortage that is one of many grotesque failures of the regime, reminding one of the similar&nbsp;ruination&nbsp;of the environment in the last days of the Soviet Union. Unsurprisingly, many of&nbsp;Emami’s&nbsp;colleagues have been arrested and still others are rumored to be in prison. Of late, political prisoners have been housed in safe houses run by the Revolutionary Guards instead of the infamous prisons such as&nbsp;Evin&nbsp;in Tehran, where they had routinely been incarcerated. The families of the new wave of political prisoners do not know where to go to find their loved ones, which is exactly what Khamenei et al desire. They fear protests in front of the jails.&nbsp;


	The&nbsp;Emami&nbsp;case is instructive, because he was hardly an anti-regime activist. He was a campaigner for a cleaner environment, and so&nbsp;far&nbsp;as I know was not involved in political protests. He was extremely popular, and his work was dangerous to the regime simply because it documented the failure of the system.&nbsp;


	As the tempo of oppression mounts, the regime is scrambling to find some way to “demonstrate” its “successes” and “popularity.” The anniversary celebrations were supposed to achieve just that, but instead showed the regime’s failure and unpopularity. If you can’t get a decent turnout for the Islamic Republic’s most important holiday, you’re in trouble.&nbsp;


	This is the background against which we need to evaluate recent events, one very public (the intrusion of an Iranian drone into Israeli territory) and one fairly low-key (the rumor of Khamenei’s death). I believe that the drone attack on Israel was conceived as a demonstration of Iranian power against the Israeli “little Satan.” It was to have been part of the celebration, but like the plans for monster rallies in support of the regime, it failed. Just as the holiday demonstrated the hollowness of Khamenei’s tyranny, the drone attack showed Iran’s vulnerability to Israeli power. And the subsequent demolition of, it is said, half of Syrian anti-aircraft forces (which is to say, Syrian-based Iranian anti-aircraft&nbsp;forces), drove home the point.&nbsp;


	The other event revolves around the health of the leader. Khamenei&nbsp;has had several medical emergencies over the years, and, starting a few days before the anniversary of the Revolution, well-sourced rumors began to circulate to the effect that he had died. He had not, but he did undergo a crisis, losing consciousness and passing into a coma for several hours.&nbsp;


	Under these circumstances, the War of the Persian Succession has intensified, and potential successors are openly attacking one another, jockeying for position should the next coma prove permanent.&nbsp;


	As it eventually will.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Can Sanctions Bring Down The Mullahs?

I don’t believe that sanctions against Iran are good enough, although, as I have written before, the Iranian regime is so hollow it could crash at any&nbsp;

The Federal Government has ordered U.S. Customs and Border Protection to <a href="https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Fmkt_app%2Fus-orders-seizure-of-imports-of-chinese-sweetener-after-finding-forced-labor-was-used_3546355.html%3Fv%3Dul&amp;data=04%7C01%7C%7Caf923086a22342c734a208d879300716%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637392594463616823%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=Xnn8n%2BAStd7Dn9Ba3%2FSw21Bea%2Fc8lOUIfMavQSGcJLg%3D&amp;reserved=0">seize all shipments</a> of stevia, a plant extract used to sweeten beverages and other foods:


	After an investigation, CBP said it had determined that Inner Mongolia Hengzheng Group Baoanzhao Agriculture, Industry and Trade Co. (Baoanzhao) used convict, forced, or indentured labor to produce stevia extracts and derivatives, the agency said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbp.gov%2Fnewsroom%2Fnational-media-release%2Fcbp-issues-first-forced-labor-finding-1996&amp;data=04%7C01%7C%7Caf923086a22342c734a208d879300716%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637392594463626819%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=97snrtS7i64gfDm7nrEzn8MtXzTgwdCTNCvQTtIixb8%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">statement</a>&nbsp;on Oct. 20. It added that those products are being, or are likely to be, imported to the United States.


	I love stevia, and this may hurt, especially early in the morning. But Customs seems quite certain that its evidence is good, and they will not permit stevia produced by forced labor to be imported.


	It is all part of the intensifying struggle between the United States and the People’s Republic of China.


	The move against Chinese stevia is part of a broad American campaign against Chinese exports in violation of U.S. regulations, much of which goes to American universities… According to a <a href="https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fd.docs.live.net%2F991963e2939b001f%2FDocuments%2FEpoch%2520Times%2C%2520October%252021%2C%25202020&amp;data=04%7C01%7C%7Caf923086a22342c734a208d879300716%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637392594463636817%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=JSdb6NRIIgNTkZnZ0cQ5VlLNLnZZ4c7JhuZZCLCswoQ%3D&amp;reserved=0">front page story</a> in Wednesday’s Epoch Times, there is $6.5 billion in unreported funding to U.S. universities from foreign sources. The largest amount reported was $1.61 billion to Carnegie Mellon University, and Harvard tops the list of recipients of Chinese funds at $116 million.&nbsp;


	“The vast majority of the foreign funds went to America’s largest and most prestigious universities,” the newspaper reported.&nbsp; The money was transmitted through “a bevy of intermediaries,” according to a report from the Department of Education. In the first six months of 2020, American universities reported $2 billion of foreign donations. One unidentified school failed to report $760 in foreign gifts; another unidentified school failed to report $1.2 billion in gifts and contracts.&nbsp;


	The DOE report arrives at a time when the [Trump Administration] is taking an aggressive stance against the influence of the CCP in the United States. The [DOJ]&nbsp; is conducting thousands of investigations across every state.


	Evidence of Chinese spying in the U.S. university system is abundant, and goes hand-in-hand with defections from the Party, to which many millions of young Chinese have lent their names. In all likelihood, the U.S. Government is getting help from large numbers of <a href="https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Fgrassroots-movement-to-reject-chinese-communist-party-gains-new-traction-amid-toughening-us-stance_3545835.html%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_campaign%3Ddigitalsub&amp;data=04%7C01%7C%7Caf923086a22342c734a208d879300716%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637392594463646808%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=DPg3oAlHP81lZiCCvHCZh2keXxctyByann3g5q5BGwM%3D&amp;reserved=0">Chinese who are leaving</a> the Communist Party of China.&nbsp;


	From July to September, the number of people who renounced their ties with the Chinese Communist Party (<a href="https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Ft-ccp&amp;data=04%7C01%7C%7Caf923086a22342c734a208d879300716%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637392594463656809%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=82DDkzlkPQODLbDtNrWI%2F96owSrEeC9AqJPUtnr74xM%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">CCP</a>) and its affiliate organizations was over 4 million. Since 2004, a total of more than 365 million have done so, according to the Tuidang Center’s records.


	“Tuidang” means “leaving the Party,” and there are more than 100 offices around the world. Motives for joining, and for obtaining certificates attesting to their departure from the Party, vary widely. Some view the certificates as a method of obtaining permission to migrate to the United States, others as a way of cleansing their records of unwanted Communist Party membership in youth organizations. Membership is mandatory for students in the Young Pioneers and the Youth League, which signs up young people through high school.


	Some fear that their Party membership may pose a&nbsp;<a href="https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Fchinese-national-denied-us-entry-likely-due-to-ccp-membership-lawyer_3514641.html&amp;data=04%7C01%7C%7Caf923086a22342c734a208d879300716%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637392594463666802%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=eXHym5nEEDPZeTBkZXbLo9xJvFlVFfIOlOy5b8Vx6X4%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">potential hurdle</a>&nbsp;on their path to&nbsp;<a href="https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Ft-immigration&amp;data=04%7C01%7C%7Caf923086a22342c734a208d879300716%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637392594463676798%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=18gVqRFxrIKuoi7I8WKtMDwU6HuVOgc2qVZlOVQi%2F8g%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">immigration</a>, as U.S. laws prohibit members of communist parties from obtaining an immigrant&nbsp;<a href="https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Ft-visa&amp;data=04%7C01%7C%7Caf923086a22342c734a208d879300716%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637392594463686798%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=DutM7%2BMeSdUCBJg4p%2FZ0%2BufEX3HYIJWCa2h6FU%2BBq7A%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">visa</a>. The Tuidang Center’s certificates are recognized by U.S. immigration officers, Yi said.


	Yi recalled one person who recently flew from mainland China to New York specifically for the certificate…


	The recent uptick has corresponded with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issuing an&nbsp;<a href="https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Ftrump-administration-publishes-rule-barring-communist-party-members-from-entry_3524700.html&amp;data=04%7C01%7C%7Caf923086a22342c734a208d879300716%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637392594463696792%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&amp;sdata=eh%2FKN6furqhJhWAV1b3KZoQM3hdMDm1kI4m1eDrmeDs%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">alert</a>&nbsp;reiterating its policy of barring Communist Party members.


	Many of those obtaining the certificates are studying in the United States, and they hope that the documentation will permit them to remain here. Others, in Iran, fear that if they do not change their biographies, they will not be allowed to apply for exit visas or American entries. Hence there is a mad scramble to rewrite one’s life story.


	In late May, as Beijing’s rubber-stamp legislature convened its annual plenary sessions, a delegate called and asked to withdraw from the Party, saying that he has “seen enough of the regime’s evil deeds.” Choking back tears, he shared about the time he led a team of medics to assist Wuhan during the COVID-19 outbreak’s early stages, and the deaths he saw there. He said he met with whistleblower doctor Li Wenliang there, who was punished for sharing the news about the virus. Li told Yang he “regretted being a Party member.”


	It's wild. The Chinese regime is not ready for an all-out struggle with Donald Trump’s America. If he is reelected, the regime will have some difficult choices to make.

Getting Out of China

The Federal Government has ordered U.S. Customs and Border Protection to seize all shipments of stevia, a plant extract used to sweeten beverages and other

China appears to be on the brink.


	The communist regime is threatening our ally, Taiwan -- one of several Asian countries seeking closer ties with the United States while China’s domestic turmoil grows.


	In a recent <a href="https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.globaltimes.cn%2Fcontent%2F1202773.shtml&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7C06481d6c2b874a9cb37f08d86e03a73e%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637380309246902828&amp;sdata=rGdqpJUclUlYK%2B2P5xdvhhrvFSgDb48udponIFTg504%3D&amp;reserved=0">column</a>&nbsp;in China's state-sponsored Global Times, editor-in-chief Hu Xijin warned,&nbsp;"As the secessionist forces' arrogance continues to swell, the historical turning point is getting closer."


	"The only way forward is for the mainland to fully prepare itself for war and to give Taiwan secessionist forces a decisive punishment at any time," he wrote.


	Taiwan's opposition party has been seeking closer cooperation with the United States. But, Hu wrote:&nbsp;"The more trouble Taiwan creates, the sooner the mainland will decide to teach Taiwan independence forces a hard lesson."


	China has been angered by the ongoing tour of Asia by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is seeking support for U.S. efforts to contain China. Recently, the Taiwanese Kuomintang Party, or KMT, renewed its effort for the government&nbsp;to reestablish diplomatic ties with the U.S.


	The Chinese are short on food, and face considerable flooding. If one or another dam overflows, major catastrophe could ensue.


	Even without such a huge disaster, China faces a grim future. Chin Jin, one of the leaders of the opposition to the ruling Communist Party <a href="https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Fthe-final-days-of-the-ccp_3530896.html%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_campaign%3Ddigitalsub&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7C06481d6c2b874a9cb37f08d86e03a73e%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637380309246902828&amp;sdata=t7sX%2FIWJADTx46aVAtCRrrfdyEgk8JDTZvcEBsISIHs%3D&amp;reserved=0">reminds his followers</a> of the country’s unpleasant past:


	The future of China has three prospects:


	Prospect 1:&nbsp;The Chinese Communist Party (<a href="https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Ft-ccp&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7C06481d6c2b874a9cb37f08d86e03a73e%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637380309246912822&amp;sdata=JPieYQirvpRURUPS%2BdPYvcwWWmE1EiFQ7b5iEX4aeuk%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">CCP</a>) will insist on continuing its rule, despite the inevitability of decline.


	Prospect 2:&nbsp;The CCP sees increasing difficulties with ruling China due to intra-party tussles, and political purges within the ruling clique, that may force it to accept various internal and external pressures to make structural change. This would also threaten the CCP regime. Chinese leader Xi Jinping however has already explicitly ruled out any meaningful political reform.


	Prospect 3:&nbsp;The blundering CCP collapses overnight like the former Soviet Union, and the ethnic minority regions and Taiwan take advantage of the situation to exit Greater China. Former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui’s proposed “Seven-Block Theory” (1999) comes to fruition dividing the country into seven autonomous regions: Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, Mongolia, South China, North China, and Northeast China.


	I believe this is the most likely.


	Chin Jin thinks the past is a reliable guide to the future, and hence that our current and future actions should be based on a correct evaluation of our past. He’s an activist, and he thinks that Chinese history provides a reliable guide to its future. He believes that the current model for China—a huge state held together by a rigid ideology and a tough-minded bureaucracy—can not only last for a long time, but endure throughout a period of severe internal and external challenge.


	President Trump does not believe that. He believes that American history shows that Americans are able to change course very quickly, and that the Chinese are locked into failed past models. Is he right?


	We don’t know. Yet.

China's Turning Point

China appears to be on the brink.


	The communist regime is threatening our ally, Taiwan -- one of several Asian countries seeking closer ties with the

Peace.


	You could probably write a very short summary, something along these lines: “we’re going to actively search for ways to cooperate, bring more countries into this deal, and turn the Middle East into a new zone of peace.”


	It could be a turning point. Or not.


	If the bulk of the predictions are correct, most of the Arab countries in the region will join the party, and the Arab-Israeli entente will become the organizing document for them all. If that is the case, there will be a fundamental transposition in the relations among most of the nations in the Middle East, an explosion in trade and travel, reciprocal access to each other’s schools, and as yet unforeseen advantages to all concerned.&nbsp;


	As the Arabs join, the Middle East will take on a distinctly different coloration, changing from a near-universal disdain for Israel to a virtually unanimous embrace. The big turning point will come when Saudi Arabia sends an Ambassador to Jerusalem, a double reversal of the traditional disdain.&nbsp;


	In truth, the Saudis are already members of the new Middle East, opening their air space to commercial planes using Saudi routes to travel to and from Israel, discussing joint ventures with the Israelis in amazingly advanced technology, and drafting plans for new high-tech joint ventures. Together, they will constitute the anti-Iranian armed force that will bring down the mullahs’ regime.&nbsp;


	If we were insects on the walls of the negotiating rooms, we’d hear some fascinating exchanges. And we would be able to listen to our elected officials apologize for their abandonment of our basic principles.


	Meanwhile, the president <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/sep/17/trump-takes-aim-cancel-culture-calls-1619-project-/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600679129979000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG1bpz_KrI5wrspYndbf1_W9zfYrQ" href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/sep/17/trump-takes-aim-cancel-culture-calls-1619-project-/" target="_blank">has just announced</a> his intention to create a new commission to institute the study of American patriotism in public schools.

<blockquote>
	
		There is no more powerful force than a parent’s love for their children — and patriotic moms and dads are going to demand that their children are no longer fed hateful lies about this country,” he said. “The only path to national unity is through our shared identity as Americans. That is why it is so urgent that we finally restore patriotic education to our schools.
</blockquote>


	It’s called the 1776 Commission, and we’ll see if it works. It follows years of neocon criticism of Progressive redoing of curricula K-12, and the virtual takeover of liberal arts programs at our finest universities. I think the best strategy is to install grownups at schools that have been captured by radical leftists, and slowly invite older, prolific scholars to round out the faculty. That way, students will be taught by a broad variety of scholars, and their thinking will be shaped by a variety of advocates.


	Some of the highest-ranking officials in the government are acutely aware of the urgency of such measures. At the moment, the schools are dens of indoctrination, rather than the sort of even-handed debate that we so desperately need.


	The Attorney General gets it, and put it well <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/remarks-attorney-general-william-p-barr-hillsdale-college-constitution-day-event&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1600679129979000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEf2GnRAr5YVXS2lisrCgLtgIumkw" href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/speech/remarks-attorney-general-william-p-barr-hillsdale-college-constitution-day-event" target="_blank">in a recent speech</a>:

<blockquote>
	
		The Justice Department abets this culture of criminalization when we are not disciplined about what charges we will bring and what legal theories we will bless.&nbsp; Rather than root out true crimes — while leaving ethically dubious conduct to the voters — our prosecutors have all too often inserted themselves into the political process based on the flimsiest of legal theories.&nbsp; We have seen this time and again, with prosecutors bringing ill-conceived charges against prominent political figures, or launching debilitating investigations that thrust the Justice Department into the middle of the political process and preempt the ability of the people to decide.

	
		This criminalization of politics will only worsen until we change the culture of concocting new legal theories to criminalize all manner of questionable conduct.&nbsp; Smart, ambitious lawyers have sought to amass glory by prosecuting prominent public figures since the Roman Republic.&nbsp; It is utterly unsurprising that prosecutors continue to do so today to the extent the Justice Department’s leaders will permit it.&nbsp;

	
		As long as I am Attorney General, we will not.
</blockquote>


	Would that the president named more such stalwarts to key positions, so that cases could be brought against the ideologues who are, alas, shaping the “thinking” of our youth.


	But he’s hopefully got four more years to sort it out, and after all that time we may have a first-class government. Time will tell.&nbsp;

Trump: Achieving Real Peace

Peace.


	You could probably write a very short summary, something along these lines: “we’re going to actively search for ways to cooperate, bring more

Two years ago, Chinese dictator Xi Jinping sent Xu Lingyi, the Deputy Secretary of the Central Commission on Disciplinary Inspection, to the province of Shaanzi, to investigate charges that many luxury villas had been constructed over the past decade. The investigation led to the production of a 20,000-word document that shows that Xi is still being deceived by local officials, despite a purge of those involved, and the destruction of many of the villas they constructed.


	The Xi’an report has found a home at <a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Fxi-jinping-lied-to-by-100-officials-amidst-dragon-vein-fights-china-threatens-to-ban-iphone_3480339.html&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cd9b05170709e4ef5c00f08d84f6b6164%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637346669892251148&amp;sdata=1xL7IayZmEXSHSIoyDS2JQ6V73%2Fvzrd4LPjfu4lkgD0%3D&amp;reserved=0">the Epoch Times, which obtained the full text</a>. It documents the widespread practice of lying, even to the top levels of the Chinese state. And odds are long that if they lie to the dictator, they will lie to us without blinking.


	Lying is commonplace in China; indeed it is a basic tool for advancement. At each level of society, those with real information have many good reasons to invent it. There is invariably a dollar sign attached to each lie, while the truth has a price tag.


	Over the past decade, United States counterintelligence has become acutely aware of this Chinese threat, and action against China has increased accordingly:


	Two Chinese researchers with alleged ties to the Chinese military have been arrested on federal charges while attempting to board China-bound flights, according to separate criminal complaints unsealed on Aug. 28.


	One of the arrested was Guan Lei, a 29-year-old researcher at the&nbsp;<a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Ft-university-of-california&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cd9b05170709e4ef5c00f08d84f6b6164%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637346669892261144&amp;sdata=FBLBUc2OlrBgnZ%2Faj7ESJChQXuWSxDbDYOz8%2B9XWXJA%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">University of California</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Ft-los-angeles&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cd9b05170709e4ef5c00f08d84f6b6164%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637346669892271145&amp;sdata=IJR7JAyK%2F48aqzHdnqBo3AuTiwG2GDNa3q9loMMohFY%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Los Angeles</a>&nbsp;(<a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Ft-ucla&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cd9b05170709e4ef5c00f08d84f6b6164%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637346669892281141&amp;sdata=903KPhIMB1YdS36sd%2BageMyh90%2FneBanH0JNehMJARc%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">UCLA</a>), who was charged with destroying evidence to obstruct an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (<a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Ft-fbi&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cd9b05170709e4ef5c00f08d84f6b6164%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637346669892291138&amp;sdata=xBD%2FD5WLyx2R8oX8yLZTHWLBRF2BFM7kRGduAWkhDAw%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">FBI</a>) into whether he had transferred sensitive U.S. software or data to China, the justice department&nbsp;<a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.justice.gov%2Fopa%2Fpr%2Fchinese-national-charged-destroying-hard-drive-during-fbi-investigation-possible-transfer&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cd9b05170709e4ef5c00f08d84f6b6164%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637346669892301129&amp;sdata=%2Ffm%2F8ooZVwRnm12pbIFAfl6qr4kpbx5aO3ddzNgWu9Y%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">said</a>.


	Also on Friday,&nbsp;<a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Ft-university-of-virginia&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cd9b05170709e4ef5c00f08d84f6b6164%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637346669892311122&amp;sdata=8wba2I98DUghzM2Nx7srFbC6DRBqemJv5Ldcnja7yV4%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">University of Virginia</a>&nbsp;(UVA) researcher Hu Haizhou, 34, was arrested and charged with theft of trade secrets and computer intrusion, the department announced. This came days after he was caught at a Chicago airport trying to transport back to China advanced computer codes that he allegedly stole from the university, prosecutors&nbsp;<a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.justice.gov%2Fusao-wdva%2Fpr%2Funiversity-virginia-researcher-charged-theft-trade-secrets-and-computer-intrusion&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cd9b05170709e4ef5c00f08d84f6b6164%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637346669892321113&amp;sdata=xTNE7P%2BS5AdPFJpfZo34y5Wvuulh2KWsNEoQSkCl7eM%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">said</a>.


	The arrests of Guan and Hu are the latest in a long string of U.S. prosecutions targeting Beijing’s efforts to exploit American academic institutions for economic or military gain. They show yet again the degree to which Chinese officials are prepared to lie to one another in order to conceal the degree of corruption that exists within China.


	A leaked internal Chinese government inspection report shows that Party leader&nbsp;<a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Ft-xi-jinping&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cd9b05170709e4ef5c00f08d84f6b6164%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637346669892331110&amp;sdata=87a0sExAr%2F5Fg5xVN5sKA1CsUPuoVe4%2BCuVRFJTOijw%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Xi Jinping</a>&nbsp;was lied to by close to 100 officials in his orders to destroy illegal villas in the Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi, which are known as the “dragon vein”.


	The Dragon Vein shows how rational the policy of lying can be, and suggests that no “official” data coming out of China should be taken at face value. Every “source” reporting up the line has a reason to lie, and the lies multiply as one works one’s way up the reporting chain.


	Official data are a hoax, designed to increase the income of Chinese bureaucrats, not to measure the productivity of the system.&nbsp;


	The fraud constituted by the official data helps explain the urgency with which the Chinese pursue American technology, from universities to corporations. The recent arrests focus on whether the would-be smugglers were trying to destroy the material they had stolen from two leading U.S, universities, UCLA and the University of Virginia. Both were employed by their universities, and simultaneously by the Chinese military, a clear violation of their obligations under American law.


	Under the circumstances, the relationship between the two biggest economies in the world is changing. There are two basic changes under way: the first shifting production from China to other countries with lower labor costs, the second changing to different shipping routes for goods produced in China itself:


	<a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Fus-firms-move-supply-chains-out-of-china-explore-options-closer-to-home_3482860.html&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cd9b05170709e4ef5c00f08d84f6b6164%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637346669892341106&amp;sdata=DeTPtV82AENsT3E5SFSvpErpSyQn%2F71nkAWR0hqlpxk%3D&amp;reserved=0">U.S. brands</a> have started to explore sourcing options closer to home, with Latin and South America gaining significant traction in recent months, according to a survey by Qima, a Hong Kong-based&nbsp;<a href="https://nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Ft-supply-chain&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cd9b05170709e4ef5c00f08d84f6b6164%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637346669892351107&amp;sdata=jvPyd3NF5Wbx6FmmXhkjK0b7msCbz78%2BYDjhABKoakc%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">supply chain</a>&nbsp;inspection company.


	The survey conducted in July among more than 200 businesses around the world found that respondents are increasingly moving their sourcing away from China. Ninety-three percent of U.S. respondents reported that they had plans to further diversify their supply chains.&nbsp;


	In addition to the expansion of Latin American ports and shippers, the United States has increased its use of Vietnam and Taiwan, and “for U.S.-based companies, sourcing destinations closer to their home country continue to grow steadily, with the popularity of Latin and South America almost doubling compared to last year.”

Lying to the Leader

Two years ago, Chinese dictator Xi Jinping sent Xu Lingyi, the Deputy Secretary of the Central Commission on Disciplinary Inspection, to the province of

The United States has taken a dramatic step against a Chinese penetration of American schools and universities. Known as <a href="https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Fus-designates-center-promoting-beijing-backed-confucius-institutes-as-foreign-mission_3460519.html&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cd98730bfd4114bc9b07508d8430d919d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637333072833437367&amp;sdata=u52HPW%2FvGtWzMGeemFLZdSF90ZIHp1yQ3sRTo%2Bs0NJE%3D&amp;reserved=0">Confucius Institutes</a>, these—numbering some 75 across the country—have set up shop in our educational institutions in order to spread propaganda and suppress free speech.


	The Washington-based nonprofit&nbsp;<a href="https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Ft-Confucius-Institute&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cd98730bfd4114bc9b07508d8430d919d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637333072833447360&amp;sdata=bdACmp1ugFEc0ecWIVz2CDqSEH2pHrB5DxPPYgnUsIg%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Confucius Institute</a>&nbsp;U.S. Center (CIUS) promotes Beijing-funded Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms in universities and schools across the United States. &nbsp;


	U.S. Secretary of State Mike&nbsp;<a href="https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Ft-pompeo&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cd98730bfd4114bc9b07508d8430d919d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637333072833447360&amp;sdata=N4x28RnvZ0nboadvxyy8jqhHf8BgET9ygQMzgTUpHNs%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Pompeo</a>&nbsp;said the designation recognizes “CIUS for what it is: an entity advancing Beijing’s global propaganda and malign influence campaign on U.S. campuses and K–12 classrooms.” The designation restricts the CIUS’s operations and staffing levels in the country.


	“Confucius Institutes are funded by the PRC [People’s Republic of China] and part of the Chinese Communist Party’s global influence and propaganda apparatus,” Pompeo said in a statement.


	Secretary Pompeo announced that the Confucius Institutes would be treated as foreign intelligence operations, and their employees would be targeted as spies. In retrospect, it’s amazing that American counterintelligence failed to understand what the Chinese were up to from the earliest days of Confucius. But then, it was only part of a massive penetration of the American scientific establishment, and we are only at the beginning of a serious response.


	It is important to keep in mind that the Chinese are not primarily motivated by a concern for human life, but rather by an urgent need to keep key persons alive, regardless of the cost to others. This principle was clearly illustrated by the case of Sun Lingling, who was saved by a heart transplant earlier this summer after she contracted a rare incurable autoimmune heart infection on a trip to Japan. She was flown back to China, where, in the space of a very few days, <a href="https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2F4-hearts-in-10-days-chinas-on-demand-organ-bank-raises-concerns-of-forced-harvesting_3457910.html&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cd98730bfd4114bc9b07508d8430d919d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637333072833447360&amp;sdata=yy%2BbZq4TcHirHjJUtqQD5ebb1jmVrgoCZUZl49jMcyk%3D&amp;reserved=0">she was provided with a new heart,</a> and quickly began a spectacular recovery.


	In fact, she had a choice among four hearts. The abundance of transplantable organs raised questions about China’s supply of such materials.


	…with China’s voluntary organ donation system still in its nascent stage, experts questioned how the hospital was able to source Sun’s matching organs so quickly—a concern at the core of allegations that the regime is engaged in the grisly practice of forced organ harvesting: killing prisoners of conscience to sell their organs for profit.


	In other words, Sun was saved by the Chinese supply of fresh hearts, and experts from around the world marveled at the phenomenon.&nbsp;


	“The question is: who is the source for these 4 hearts,” said Dr. Torsten Trey, executive director of the medical ethics advocacy group Doctors Against Forced&nbsp;<a href="https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Ft-organ-harvesting&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cd98730bfd4114bc9b07508d8430d919d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637333072833457356&amp;sdata=aPHivpc%2FWl5DE5czl%2Fd9mp5pKfxvNS6F4wj3Xju3e2w%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">Organ Harvesting</a>. In the United States, patients generally waited for around 6.9 months for a matching heart donation, according to the latest government data from 2018. At this rate, to get four matching hearts for the same person…may take around two years, he noted.


	The Chinese saved Sun in a matter of days, leading experts from the United States and Israel to conclude that organs were “harvested” from the bodies of arrested dissidents and then implanted to the needy.&nbsp;


	The experts believe that China views the bodies of dissidents as fair targets for transplants, and they are frequently said to engage in harvesting organs as needed. As Newt <a href="https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gingrich360.com%2F2020%2F08%2Fkamala-harris-an-anti-catholic-bigot%2F&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cd98730bfd4114bc9b07508d8430d919d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637333072833457356&amp;sdata=7QL0CyU%2B7EpePFEAIr8lSkd%2B0BJKYUwU7AXqChCF%2FEs%3D&amp;reserved=0">Gingrich writes</a>, the Chinese are at one with Biden and Kamala Harris on this subject.&nbsp;


	US Sen. Kamala Harris is the most openly anti-Catholic bigot to be on a national ticket in modern times.


	Her record is perfectly clear. She is openly anti-Catholic in&nbsp;<a href="https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nationalreview.com%2Fcorner%2Fkamala-harriss-anti-catholic-bigotry%2F&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cd98730bfd4114bc9b07508d8430d919d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637333072833467349&amp;sdata=gB8iGy5Kwk7tb0oz5AOqvfzdvx5YrqIMdRQCW9E%2FfiU%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">confirming federal judges</a>, wanting to&nbsp;<a href="https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonexaminer.com%2Fopinion%2Fjoe-bidens-defenses-of-his-faith-ring-hollow-with-kamala-harris-pick&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cd98730bfd4114bc9b07508d8430d919d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637333072833467349&amp;sdata=mYJf4fgu57cvm0zLXA9PgywtAyMBXxS4%2B7cBCzn%2Fe1w%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">prosecute</a>&nbsp;the Little Sisters of the Poor,&nbsp;<a href="https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fopinion%2Fkamala-harris-blocked-hospital-rescue-to-help-seiu-wall-street-journal-editorial-board&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cd98730bfd4114bc9b07508d8430d919d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637333072833467349&amp;sdata=kFUhROga0mM8mLoMTxqTSQk1JBv11FFu5X1BcmusetQ%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">closing Catholic Hospitals</a>&nbsp;who don’t join her union allies, and favoring&nbsp;<a href="https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nationalreview.com%2Fcorner%2Fkamala-harriss-abortion-absolutism%2F&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cd98730bfd4114bc9b07508d8430d919d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637333072833477344&amp;sdata=3hkj9OkLGoNV5EB%2BG5L%2FDSKnDUvb3Bu2e%2FWDnGXjOwA%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">tax paid abortion</a>&nbsp;up until birth (in fact, she has twice&nbsp;<a href="https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.senate.gov%2Flegislative%2FLIS%2Froll_call_lists%2Froll_call_vote_cfm.cfm%3Fcongress%3D116%26session%3D2%26vote%3D00058&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cd98730bfd4114bc9b07508d8430d919d%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637333072833477344&amp;sdata=fWavcytdkQIcXpPom01PVyxC3%2BHq%2BjEE9IWn5soinyY%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">voted against bills</a>&nbsp;that would ensure that babies who lived through abortion procedures got medical care).


	Harris has made her anti-Catholicism explicit by fighting against the confirmation of Brian Buescher in 2017 as a member of the US District Court, where he now sits. As Gingrich put it,


	The most explicit example of Sen. Harris’s anti-Catholic bigotry was her treatment of now-US District Court Judge Brian Buescher during his confirmation hearings. Specifically, she questioned Buescher’s membership in the Knights of Columbus – a faith-based charitable organization which feeds the poor, assists in disaster relief around the globe, provides scholarships for struggling students, helps refugees fleeing violence and persecution, and a host of other philanthropic efforts.


	Senator Harris joins an imposing list of Chinese spies, many of them from the heart of the dark state. As Pompeo was announcing the mounting crackdown on Confucius, the Justice Department confirmed the arrest of a twenty-year veteran of CIA.&nbsp;


	It’s a target-rich environment.


	* * *


	Photo credit: <a href="https://pixabay.com/illustrations/china-chinese-flag-eye-security-5089721/">Pixabay</a>

Chinese Spies...Everywhere

The United States has taken a dramatic step against a Chinese penetration of American schools and universities. Known as Confucius Institutes, these—numbering

I have just passed through my 79th&nbsp;birthday, and the Iranian regime is celebrating it by sending a bunch of phony messages in my name to various innocent victims.&nbsp; This generally lures in the unwary, and generates tidy little concentric circles of email addresses -- just what the mullahs like to play with.


	I’m not alone at The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). The latest target is Richard Goldberg, and there has long been Reuel Gerecht, Mark Dubowitz and Clifford May. I’ve been on this list for many years now, and I’ve got some handy advice for those who receive what looks like an email message from yours truly, or anyone else at the Foundation.&nbsp;


	The handiest advice is: don’t do what you’re being asked to do. The information about me is false, and asks the recipient to forward to the sender all the data he/she has about me. This request would close the loops and provide the sender with all the links back and forth between them and their targets.


	I have heard from some of those queried by the regime, and it is quite clear that the Iranians are hunting for American networks exchanging information about Iranian activities. They figure that such networks will give them a picture of American counterintelligence operations, make it easier for the Iranians to penetrate them, and get them inside the U.S. networks. Once there, the Iranians believe they can reverse the procedure, and unravel the enemy networks.&nbsp;


	The whole thing is a scam to get the Iranians inside our networks, of which FDD is evidently among the most important. If they succeed in penetrating the U.S. network on Iran, the Iranians hope to obtain a complete picture of America’s grasp of the Iranian operation inside the United States.&nbsp;&nbsp;


	This is no small matter. According to official Iranian radio broadcasts, one Iranian dies every nine minutes from the coronavirus, and the broadcasts are not reliable. If we ever get our hands on the files from the regime, we are likely to discover that the death rates are significantly higher than we currently believe.&nbsp;


	Meanwhile, the American&nbsp;<a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/nine-charged-24-million-covid-relief-fraud-scheme" target="_blank">Justice Department</a>&nbsp;announced charges against Iranians in Florida:

<blockquote>
	
		The owner of a Florida talent management company and four others were charged in complaints unsealed yesterday for their alleged participation in a scheme to file fraudulent loan applications seeking more than $24 million in forgivable Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
</blockquote>


	The charges link the newly-charged five to four others previously indicted on the same charges. The testimony at their trial should tell us a lot about Chinese spying in the West, and expose the failure of China to develop a new generation of technology in the evolving cold war.


	Western governments are&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/chinas-neighbors-in-the-indo-pacific-stand-up-to-its-hegemonic-ambitions_3447202.html" target="_blank">acting accordingly</a>:

<blockquote>
	
		The Chinese foreign ministry has now instructed its ambassadors to aggressively defend its interests and reputation, even if at the cost of diplomatic niceties. Following what has been named “wolf warrior” diplomacy, these diplomats are now actively pushing the Chinese regime’s agenda by employing the tools of attacks, fake news, propaganda, and conspiracy theories. However, countries around the world, instead of being cowed down, are now standing up to this diplomatic offensive and China’s hegemonic ambitions. 
		 
		Nowhere is this shift more pronounced than with China’s neighbors in the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/t-indo-pacific" target="_blank">Indo-Pacific</a>.&nbsp;
</blockquote>


	Australia is increasing its defense budget, four members of the “Five Eyes” intelligence pact—the United States, Great Britain, Australia and Japan—have censured the recent Chinese clampdown on Hong Kong’s freedom, and the fifth “Eye”—New Zealand—is reexamining her relationship with Hong Kong:

<blockquote>
	
		This push on political issues is matched by a growing squeeze on Chinese technology companies, which for years have had free rein in markets around the world by offering cheaper low-quality alternatives—hardware and software. However, it appears that Beijing’s hegemonic pursuits may have been nipped in the bud. Following India’s ban of more than 50 Chinese apps, the United States is contemplating a similar move. Besides, the United States, the UK, too, has made up its mind, as evident from its decision to exclude Huawei from its 5G network. France, too, is taking steps to restrict Huawei’s role in its telecom network.
</blockquote>


	So if I were making predictions, I would say that China is looking at grave difficulties in the near term. And they are getting graver all the time.


	* * *


	Photo: TRT World

Tehran-Beijing is The New Fact of Life

I have just passed through my 79th&nbsp;birthday, and the Iranian regime is celebrating it by sending a bunch of phony messages in my name to various innocent

There are lots of stories telling about an impending deal between China and Iran, about which U.S. officials Keith Krach and Brian Hook issue a warning: <a href="https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Firan-and-china-the-totalitarian-twins-11595266709&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cfac026f6cd4844463fdf08d82dc555c9%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637309672849843755&amp;sdata=QDip6EhnkoVHVRI2xproXayy4YefSCWd0txe%2FzcHDmg%3D&amp;reserved=0">“not so fast.”</a>


	To be sure, these two totalitarian countries have frequently indicated their intentions to merge their forces against the American and Israeli democracies, and play a hegemonic role in the Middle East and the South China sea. This goes back several decades, if not centuries, and is one of the Chinese historic goals: establishing a global presence.


	No one should be surprised by the start of the <a href="https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcarolineglick.com%2Fisrael-and-the-sino-iranian-alliance%2F&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cfac026f6cd4844463fdf08d82dc555c9%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637309672849853750&amp;sdata=c1AWVqaRD%2B7haVZlxK6NP5shboFE0Ezpiqk8dtBKugo%3D&amp;reserved=0">mutual agreement:</a>


	&nbsp;“In its opening line, China and Iran describe themselves as 'two ancient Asian cultures, two partners in the sectors of trade, economy, politics, culture and security with a similar outlook and many mutual bilateral and multilateral interests.'


	Henceforth, they “will consider one another strategic partners.”


	The China-Iran deal stipulates a wide range of cooperation across economic, military and security matters, and gives both regimes access to each other’s strengths.


	The implications of the deal are clear. China has opted to ignore U.S. sanctions. Beijing clearly believes the economic and diplomatic price it will pay for doing so will be smaller than the price the U.S. will pay for the diminishment of its position as the ultimate arbiter of global markets.


	For Iran, China is a life raft saving it from total economic collapse under the weight of U.S. economic sanctions.&nbsp;


	The Sino-Iranian pact is also a military accord...the agreement commits the sides to intensify their joint military exercises. Since 2014, China and Iran have carried out three joint military exercises, the most recent one, a naval exercise took place in December 2019. Russia also participated.


	Following the naval maneuvers, Iran’s naval chief Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi told the Chinese media the exercise showed, “the era of American invasions in the region is over.”


	<a href="https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcarolineglick.com%2Fisrael-and-the-sino-iranian-alliance%2F&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cfac026f6cd4844463fdf08d82dc555c9%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637309672849853750&amp;sdata=c1AWVqaRD%2B7haVZlxK6NP5shboFE0Ezpiqk8dtBKugo%3D&amp;reserved=0">As Caroline Glick points out</a>, the deal may well resolve a long-standing conflict between Israel and the United States. In the early 1980s, I was sent to Israel to ask Prime Minister Shimon Peres to stop trading with the Chinese. Peres promised to cut back, but continued the practice, as did his successors, for nearly 40 years. But the Iran-China deal will put a stop to it.&nbsp;


	First, and perhaps foremost, China knows a lot about nuclear weapons, and has promised the Iranians to help with their atomic program. That changes the calculus for Netanyahu and his people:


	Until now, Israel viewed the possibility of removing Chinese firms from major construction projects and other deals as a regrettable price of its alliance with the U.S. rather than an Israeli interest.


	The Sino-Iran pact changed the calculus. Cancelling technological and infrastructure deals with China – Iran’s superpower sponsor – is now an Israeli national interest regardless of Washington’s position.


	The creation of <a href="https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gatestoneinstitute.org%2F16252%2Firan-china-military-alliance&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7Cfac026f6cd4844463fdf08d82dc555c9%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637309672849853750&amp;sdata=T%2FG1vY1tD6v40e5pmXMvVJrVj8Da1JBzMt8%2Fyd6%2B53c%3D&amp;reserved=0">joint Sino-Iranian bases</a> in the Indian ocean opens the alarming prospect of increased Iranian control over Persian Gulf shipping, threatening American and British influence in one of the world’s key oil delivery routes, as well as increasing the global reach of the rapidly expanding Chinese navy.


	Step by step, the new world alignment is taking shape, and there are many unexpected developments, including a strategic alliance between Russia and the United States. Do you remember the early accusations against Trump, alleging that the new American president would turn out to be an instrument of Moscow’s global outreach? Does it surprise you to discover that it’s the other way around? Instead, Moscow may be the crucial ingredient in a new “Cold War” that will see the United States and China facing one another as the two hegemonic powers maneuvering for strategic dominance. It could work out that way.


	In any event, the new world order is shaping up, well described by Caroline Glick:


	For decades, U.S. warnings notwithstanding, Israel perceived China as a neutral power and a highly attractive market. Unlike the Europeans, the Chinese never tried to use their economic ties with Israel to coerce Israel into making concessions to the Palestinians. The Chinese didn’t work with radical Israel fringe groups to subvert government and military decisions. They just seemed interested in economic ties for their own sake.


	Now that China has chosen to stand with Iran, Israel must recognize the implications and act accordingly.&nbsp;


	It seems to me that China has made a strategic error, but the internal conflicts within the country are pretty heated, as are those in Iran. We’ve got a long way to go before the global conflict becomes clear.


	* * *


	Photo credit: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ali_Khamenei_receives_Xi_Jinping_in_his_house_(6).jpg">Official website of Ali Khamenei.</a>

Tehran-Beijing is the New Fact of Life

There are lots of stories telling about an impending deal between China and Iran, about which U.S. officials Keith Krach and Brian Hook issue a warning: “not

China and Iran have unleashed a harsh domestic repression against protesters, as <a href="https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theepochtimes.com%2Fsevere-floods-hit-chongqing-as-flooding-across-southern-china-leaves-106-people-dead-or-missing_3410702.html&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7C2a28ffa2a8c34fb17b2108d822070125%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637296760762025636&amp;sdata=heQVcLcP7T44Kr2oKGVacPD%2FEb5hkn01d4V4dXJ7pt0%3D&amp;reserved=0">natural disasters sweep</a> across the two countries. China took an early lead:


	Waters in 116 local rivers rose one to ten meters (3.3 feet to 32.8 feet). State news agency Xinhua&nbsp;<a href="https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.xinhuanet.com%2Fpolitics%2F2020-07%2F02%2Fc_1126187457.htm&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7C2a28ffa2a8c34fb17b2108d822070125%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637296760762035625&amp;sdata=OG1e4sxZ3mQesuDfN%2BZ0ndn8gTwbiefpwkIOqQsZwRs%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">quoted</a>&nbsp;Chongqing city officials on July 2 saying that water levels of 12 rivers are higher than the upper limits, meaning the banks may burst at any time.


	At least one person has died, and one is missing, the report said, adding that almost 60,000 have been affected by the floods in the city.


	Local authorities in one area in Chongqing have warned those who live on the fourth story or below in buildings close to rivers to be prepared to evacuate.


	Authorities are warning civilians to pay close attention to local rivers and streams. As of the beginning of the month, some 304 rivers had reached perilous levels.


	And in Iran, official death totals due to coronavirus have reached a new high. Given that ALL Iranian data are probably falsified, the new death totals are especially dubious. They are both big countries, and do not dread a sudden or dramatic drop in population. Au contraire, the new data suggest that the threat to stability in Iran is diminishing, and therefore that internal stability is increasing.


	Meanwhile, there has been a positive identification of a case of <a href="https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fd.docs.live.net%2F991963e2939b001f%2FDocuments%2FMonths%2520after%2520the%2520detrimental%2520COVID-19%2520pandemic%2520originated%2520in%2520China%2C%2520the%2520country%2520is%2520now%2520reporting%2520a%2520positive%2520case%2520of%2520the%2520Bubonic%2520Plague%2520in%2520a%2520hospital%2520in%2520Bayannur%2C%2520Inner%2520Mongolia%2C%2520according%2520to%2520the%2520South%2520China%2520Morning%2520Post.&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7C2a28ffa2a8c34fb17b2108d822070125%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637296760762035625&amp;sdata=gp0F7HVG%2Bq%2BieomcNMVCYdgy%2FI34yluO6zFv1o%2BjuSo%3D&amp;reserved=0">Bubonic Plague</a> in China:


	Months after the detrimental&nbsp;<a href="https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsaraacarter.com%2Fits-going-to-be-very-disturbing-fauci-says-covid-cases-could-surge-by-100000-a-day%2F&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7C2a28ffa2a8c34fb17b2108d822070125%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637296760762045624&amp;sdata=7VLY58jb0pdlJJkJxYP8GWKafAoSCKcF8GRwAfchwFw%3D&amp;reserved=0">COVID-19</a>&nbsp;pandemic originated in&nbsp;<a href="https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsaraacarter.com%2Fwho-admits-it-was-never-told-about-covid-by-china-instead-found-out-from-u-s-data%2F&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7C2a28ffa2a8c34fb17b2108d822070125%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637296760762045624&amp;sdata=6uV6LV29XmF%2BOF9J2wIpg7B2HXjmotfOHEs9gh61VkI%3D&amp;reserved=0">China</a>, the country is now reporting a positive case of the Bubonic Plague in a hospital in Bayannur, Inner Mongolia, according to the&nbsp;<a href="https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.scmp.com%2Fnews%2Fchina%2Fsociety%2Farticle%2F3092069%2Fchinese-health-officials-urge-precautions-after-case-bubonic&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7C2a28ffa2a8c34fb17b2108d822070125%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637296760762045624&amp;sdata=7NodYUY67Jh0LT0QWZJMJA%2BU4Vt3a%2BVj%2BEG%2BjHoOSKA%3D&amp;reserved=0">South China Morning Post</a>.


	Officials are asking residents and tourists to stay out of the grasslands overnight and avoid contact, especially consumption, of wild&nbsp;<a href="https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsaraacarter.com%2Fchinas-new-policy-to-stop-export-of-monkeys-threatens-u-s-covid-19-research%2F&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7C2a28ffa2a8c34fb17b2108d822070125%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637296760762055619&amp;sdata=r%2Ffbf1oYc8eMZBztMLnI4USYk40yuVHP2Eg1AwDvj84%3D&amp;reserved=0">animals</a>. If someone develops a fever, they are asked to report history with animals and travels in the grasslands.


	Although we suffer from a lack of reliable statistics from Communist China, and while Iranian statistics are no more reliable than their official laboratory results, there can be little doubt that the regime is serious about staying away from wild animals. The disease is rare, but it can be lethal. And human beings should certainly stay away from plague-ridden wild animals.


	Even promises from the supreme leader are unreliable:


	<a href="https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rferl.org%2Fa%2Fkhamenei-assures-student-that-criticism-is-ok-but-later-he-s-sentenced-for-criticizing-iranian-leader-%2F30703005.html&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7C2a28ffa2a8c34fb17b2108d822070125%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637296760762055619&amp;sdata=q%2BMjxh47jKQ9sq29msOKnZ7ze1fjDqXG6nrK1GfwNac%3D&amp;reserved=0">Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei</a> assured a doctoral student in a 2016 meeting that there was nothing wrong with criticizing the country's top official. 
	 
	"Speaking against me is neither [reprimandable] nor is it a crime, I've said it many times," Khamenei said at the July 2, 2016, meeting with a group of handpicked students, including Mohammad Ali Kamfiruzi. 
	 
	The young student had directly confronted Khamenei over rights abuses in the Islamic republic, including violating people's freedom of expression. 
	 
	Four years later, the former student who became a lawyer has been given a two-year suspended prison sentence for offering mild criticism of Khamenei in a 2018 speech.


	Kamfiruzi was the son of a man killed in the war against Iraq, and although his family is distinguished he must show up for constant checks from the authorities. His sentence is the result of extremely mild criticism of the Regime. <a href="https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonexaminer.com%2Fopinion%2Fwere-closer-to-a-south-china-sea-conflict-than-you-think&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7C2a28ffa2a8c34fb17b2108d822070125%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637296760762065615&amp;sdata=KBf0mNosESJozgqZJMXBdRtiX6MDVuQHTIm6f87%2FBkY%3D&amp;reserved=0">The open question</a> is whether the Chinese regime will take military action against the United States.


	China's intent was to broadcast its willingness to establish militarily enforced no-go zones in international waters and to improve&nbsp;<a href="https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonexaminer.com%2Fopinion%2Fwhy-china-is-conducting-aggressive-paracel-islands-exercises&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7C2a28ffa2a8c34fb17b2108d822070125%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637296760762065615&amp;sdata=uulnj9Et6OZwXSc8fI04QyQoNEVMdh8OVhIf%2Fs8jkL0%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">its ability to defend these strongholds</a>&nbsp;from interceding American forces. The United States's exercises were designed to show that Washington intends to match Beijing's military activity and to dissuade China from believing it can deny U.S. carrier strike groups access beyond&nbsp;<a href="https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonexaminer.com%2Fopinion%2Fthe-craziness-of-chinas-island-claims&amp;data=02%7C01%7C%7C2a28ffa2a8c34fb17b2108d822070125%7C84df9e7fe9f640afb435aaaaaaaaaaaa%7C1%7C0%7C637296760762075606&amp;sdata=QTcRQgC3WfY0aQ9wJj1MjQpi7XhgRp%2FMDgJyIGgi1SE%3D&amp;reserved=0" target="_blank">the first island chain</a>&nbsp;of waters west of Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines and north of Malaysia. That U.S. intention reflects an understanding of Chinese war planning, which seeks to deter U.S. carriers from accessing those waters in fear of China's significant anti-ship ballistic missile force.


	Regardless, the risk of a miscalculation or deliberate conflict is growing significantly.


	China and the United States have faced each other in several scenarios in recent years, and here we have another case in which open conflict seems altogether possible, if not actually likely. The American Navy and Air Force are clearly superior to the Chinese, and the Chinese have shied away from direct conflict in the past, if it were clear that U.S. forces were stronger.&nbsp;


	Will they stick to this model? Or will they change, and challenge us directly?

China Advances

China and Iran have unleashed a harsh domestic repression against protesters, as natural disasters sweep across the two countries. China took an early lead

Frontpage Mag

Michael Ledeen

Foiling a Chinese Military Operation in the United Arab Emirates

Is China Cooling Down?

Is China Falling?

Desert Wars

China in Retreat?

China Threatens Nuclear War if U.S. Continues Investigating COVID-19 Origins

China Rising

China Humiliates Biden's Team in Alaska

Rush Limbaugh: Unique Political Genius

China: Disinformation, Espionage, and Lies

China Marches On

Can Sanctions Bring Down The Mullahs?

Getting Out of China

China's Turning Point

Trump: Achieving Real Peace

Lying to the Leader

Chinese Spies...Everywhere

Tehran-Beijing is The New Fact of Life

Tehran-Beijing is the New Fact of Life

China Advances

FPM Series

Disloyal Military

Progressive Fascists

Racist Mayors

The Point

CDC Releases Numbers Showing BLM is Killing Black Kids

The Media's Obsession With School Shootings is Killing Kids

Biden Lies About Gun Control Again

SF School System Solves 38% Black Student Proficiency Problem With Wokeness

Schumer Will Continue Holding Meaningless Votes on Whatever Issue is Trending Right Now

Events