In 1949 Mao Zedong (毛澤東) succeeded in establishing his Chinese Communist Party (CCP) dictatorship. In that same year George Orwell foreshadowed the CCP’s paramount promise of eternal totalitarian darkness in his dystopian classic, 1984. In its numbing conclusion the agent of oppression, O’Brien, lectures the de-humanized victim Winston saying, “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever.”
Today one of Orwell’s boots is worn by Hu Xijin (胡錫進), editor and chief of the CCP-controlled Global Times, often regarded as the “inner voice” of the CCP. If CCP supremo and President for Life Xi Jinping (習近平) disagreed with Hu Xijin, he’d be fired, or worse.
On September 11, 2020, one day after two days of People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and Air Force joint exercises at times a mere 90 nautical miles (166km) southwest of Taiwan, Hu Xijin spewed forth a torrent of threats to Taiwan. Hu declared that if China has the “means” to win and is “morally justified,” then, “I believe China can be free to engage in war if it has to.”
Previously, after the PLA Eastern Theater Command opposite Taiwan had publicly announced impending twin military exercises, the Global Times on August 13 intoned:
“The PLA has more options to impose military pressure, including fighter jets flying around the island, passing the ‘middle line’ of the Straits and even flying over Taiwan Island, testing ballistic missiles over the Taiwan Island, and carrying out military exercises in the eastern waters of Taiwan, until Taiwan is completely haunted by the thought that a war will break out anytime… The Chinese people generally no longer believe that US military could dominate the battlefield once a war breaks out there… And we are confident we will win.”
But Global Times was driven into a meltdown over the visit of US Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth Keith Krach and reports of a new US arms sales package. Hu Xijin opened the anti-Krach barrage on September 8, indirectly threatening war: “Will the US provide security guarantees to Taiwan?”
On September 17 the Global Times explained the horrors of Krach’s visit, saying, “if Washington underestimates China’s determination to retaliate, the US could send more senior officials from other departments, such as the Department of Defense… and other countries could follow to develop their security or political ties with the island of Taiwan… and will break peace in the region.”
The Global Times responses: declare aircraft carriers “crucial in reunification by force operation” (September 11); repeat the claims of “Taiwan experts” that “the PLA could engage in small-scale military actions, such as striking Taiwan targets with short- or medium-range missiles” (September 18); and as for new US arms sales, “Once the People’s Liberation Army dispatches troops to reunify the island of Taiwan, the military equipment from the US will be nothing but decorations” (September 17).
But Hu Xijin is not just urging China to commence a war to murder millions of Taiwanese, he wants China to be able to kill millions of Americans as well. The previous May 8, Hu created a stir by calling for China to build up to 1,000 nuclear warheads and up to 100 DF-41 intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Then on September 2, criticizing the annual US Department of Defense China Military Power Report issued the previous day, Hu stated, the “latest Pentagon report deliberately underestimates China’s nuclear warhead stockpile… Its purpose, first of all, is to weaken China’s nuclear deterrence, especially the role of China’s nuclear capability in shaping the US society’s attitude toward China.” In short, the US is not intimidated enough by China’s nukes.
So this is Xi Jinping/Hu Xijin’s core goal for 2020: this is the year we must fear the Chinese Communist Party. Whether it’s forcing Taiwan to surrender its freedom, murdering Indian soldiers, subverting democratic governance in Australia and New Zealand, unilaterally asserting sovereign claims over the South and East China Sea, or deploying divisions of student/researcher and business spies in the United States, one must submit to the CCP. When, as charitably viewed, protocol failures in government-controlled laboratories, compounded by a CCP coverup, enable the Wuhan Coronavirus to kill nearly one million people around the globe and reduce global GDP by 5%, one must submit. If historical context is needed, consider the 70 million Chinese citizens already killed by the CCP.
But here is the problem, if one does not submit to the CCP, then how long before growing PLA military power acts on Hu Xijin’s “moral justification” to attack one’s country? It is far better to meet the CCP/PLA threat now, if only to de-fang its military-political-threat coercion combine before it commands a dozen aircraft carrier and amphibious invasion groups, or can fly airborne mechanized army brigades to one’s capital.
First it is necessary to teach the CCP accountability and humanity. This can be done by using the upcoming United Nations General Assembly speeches to demand that China accept responsibility and pay a token US$50,000 per person killed by the Chinese Wuhan Coronavirus. At an expected 1 million victims this will work out to about US$50 billion, or less than one-fifth of the estimated current PLA budget.
Second, it is necessary to enhance the moral and military resilience of the CCP’s targets. If this year has highlighted one contrast, it is the one between the freedom-loving, Wuhan virus-defeating nation of Taiwan, and the death-sewing, threat-spewing CCP/PLA. By conferring or sharing its Nobel Peace Prize with the people of Taiwan, Norway could significantly increase their moral strength while also acknowledging their medical aid efforts.
As a military conquest of Taiwan will allow the PLA to base naval, airborne, and nuclear missile forces that will threaten the democracies of Asia and expand global PLA power projection, it is in the direct interests of the United States, Japan, Australia, India, and the democracies of Europe to ensure Taiwan has the means to dissuade, deter, and defeat a CCP/PLA attack. Washington should consider emergency airlifts of missiles, AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles for fighter jets, new long-range anti-aircraft missiles like the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) —and as soon as they are available, anti-ship ballistic missile versions of the ATACMS missile.
Fear and terror have been fundamental tools for Communist Parties since Lenin, Stalin, and Mao. Sustaining fear requires not just verbal terrorists like Hu Xijin, but murder as well, as China did to India on June 15 and is threatening to do to Taiwan. So, there is another lesson from 2020: if the democracies do not confront CCP/PLA terror now largely in Asia, it could soon be unleashed on them.
Richard D. Fisher, Jr. is a senior fellow with the International Assessment and Strategy Center.
Liberal democracy and communist autocracy are at the initial stages of a historic battle. Taipei has chosen its side in this fight and has sought to frame “cross-strait relations” as an international issue, while Beijing says that Taiwan is an “internal issue” and a hangover from the Chinese Civil War. Taiwan’s status as a nation has new clarity and the international community is beginning to defend Taiwan’s democracy. The Washington Post has praised Taiwan’s diplomatic achievements and Australian Minister for Defence Peter Dutton has said that it would be inconceivable for Australia not to join Taiwan and the US in a conflict with
At a time when China continues its assertive policy toward its neighboring countries, the regime of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Bhutan last month to resolve a longstanding border dispute. However, this is not the first time China and Bhutan have taken such efforts on this issue. Over the years, China has expanded its claim over territory in Bhutan. China claims over 764km2 of Bhutan’s territory, which includes Doklam, Sinchulung, Dramana and Shakhatoe in the northwestern region and the Pasamlung and Jakarlung Valleys in the central part of Bhutan. Although the two sides held
The world community has just seen an election victory with more than 90 percent of the vote under a dictatorial regime, but Dolqun Isa’s large election win was for a good reason. The World Uyghur Congress’ (WUC) 7th General Assembly was held in Prague, Czech Republic, from Nov. 12 to Nov. 14. The WUC was formed in exile to re-establish the independent state in East Turkestan — officially called Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region by China. At that meeting, Isa was re-elected to the presidency. He was the only candidate, and before the vote, another well-known Uighur advocate, Abduwali Ayup, said: “Are we living
In the early hours of Sunday, a convenience store clerk in Taoyuan was killed after reportedly asking a man to wear a mask. Although the suspect, a 41-year-old paper sculptor surnamed Chiang (蔣), initially complied, he was clearly incensed at the request as he took the mask off after paying and threw it at the 7-Eleven clerk, surnamed Tsai (蔡), police said. What might have ended there escalated to deadly proportions when Chiang returned to the store with a concealed knife, media reports said. He called on Tsai, 30, to step out and meet him, before allegedly proceeding to stab him repeatedly,
RSS