Bill Gertz: Deceiving The Sky

Abstract

The United States' approach to China since the Communist regime inBeijing began the period of reform and opening in the 1980s was based ona promise that trade and engagement with China would result in apeaceful, democratic state. Forty years later the hope of producing a benignPeople's Republic of China utterly failed. The Communist Party of Chinadeceived the West into believing that the its system and the Party-ruledPeople's Liberation Army were peaceful and posed no threat. In fact, thesemisguided policies produced the emergence of a 21st Century Evil Empireeven more dangerous than a Cold War version in the Soviet Union.Successive American presidential administrations were fooled by ill-advisedpro-China policymakers, intelligence analysts and business leaders whofacilitated the rise not of a peaceful China but a threatening andexpansionist nuclear-armed communist dictatorship not focused on asingle overriding strategic objective: Weakening and destroying the UnitedStates of America. Defeating the United States is the first step for China'scurrent rulers in achieving global supremacy under a new world orderbased an ideology of Communism with Chinese characteristics. The processincluded technology theft of American companies that took place on amassive scale through cyber theft and unfair trade practices. The lossesdirectly supported in the largest and most significant buildup of theChinese military that now directly threatens American and allied interestsaround the world. The military threat is only half the danger as Chinaaggressively pursues regional and international control using a variety ofnon-military forces, including economic, cyber and space warfare and large-scale influence operations.