The China Trade War: National Security On The Line

Frontpage Mag ^ | 05/17/2019 | Michael Cutler

[SeekAndFind]

Add the trade war with China to a long list of crises driven by greed and globalism that President Trump inherited from a series of prior administrations, from both political parties

Since President Trump declared that, unlike previous U.S. Presidents, he would no longer permit China to ride roughshod over the United States, Wall Street whined about how a trade war with China would be costly to America and Americans by causing products from China to cost more; and likely diminish American exports to China as China retaliated by increasing tariffs on those U.S.  goods.

For Wall Street, the bottom line is the bottom line.  This is a very short-sighted and dangerous example of myopia, focusing on profits while ignoring threats to U.S. national security.

First and foremost, China is ruled by a totalitarian communist regime that is guilty of reprehensible human rights violations against its own citizens and is clearly working rapidly to expand its reach around the world by building its military capabilities. 

Earlier this year I wrote about Chinese Aggression Against The U.S.A.  As President Trump has noted, China has not only taken economic advantage against the United States but has engaged in widespread intellectual property theft (also known as industrial espionage).  Indeed, China has also engaged in committing widespread espionage where our military technology is concerned and, incomprehensibly, the United States has admitted hundreds of thousands of Chinese STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) students and provided them with world-class education at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels.  Such students then become eligible to apply for Optional Practical Training that enables them to be gainfully employed by U.S. companies, including companies that develop technology of our military.

This provides access to U.S. companies that then become the targets of Chinese espionage.

China is also notorious for hacking computers in the United States that belong to our government, our military, corporations and even U.S. citizens.

On May 9, 2019 the U.S. Department of Justice issued a press release that announced, Member of Sophisticated China-Based Hacking Group Indicted for Series of Computer Intrusions, Including 2015 Data Breach of Health Insurer Anthem Inc. Affecting Over 78 Million People.

Here are several excerpts from the press release:

A federal grand jury returned an indictment unsealed today in Indianapolis, Indiana, charging a Chinese national as part of an extremely sophisticated hacking group operating in China and targeting large businesses in the United States, including a computer intrusion and data breach of Indianapolis-based health insurer Anthem Inc. (Anthem).

The four-count indictment alleges that Fujie Wang (王 福 杰 in Chinese Hanzi), 32, and other members of the hacking group, including another individual charged as John Doe, conducted a campaign of intrusions into U.S.-based computer systems.  The indictment alleges that the defendants gained entry to the computer systems of Anthem and three other U.S. businesses.

“The allegations in the indictment unsealed today outline the activities of a brazen China-based computer hacking group that committed one of the worst data breaches in history,” said Assistant Attorney General Benczkowski.  “These defendants allegedly attacked U.S. businesses operating in four distinct industry sectors, and violated the privacy of over 78 million people by stealing their PII. 

The indictment further alleges that the defendants then collected files and other information from the compromised computers and then stole this data.  As part of the computer intrusion and data breach of Anthem, the defendants identified and ultimately stole data concerning approximately 78.8 million persons from Anthem’s computer network, including names, health identification numbers, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, employment information and income data, according to the indictment.

On April 9, 2019 CNN reported, Woman accused of illegal entry to Mar-a-Lago had numerous electronic devices, thousands in cash.

What was all but ignored by a series of reports about this woman, a citizen of China, Yujing Zhang, is how she was able to enter the United States with a visa but may have lied on her application for the visa in order to enter the United States; and then seek to gain entry to President Trump’s resort in Florida by deception to potentially carry out espionage.

And then, there is the huge issue of China flooding the United States with fentanyl.

On April 28, 2019 CBS News’ 60 minutes reported, Deadly fentanyl bought online from China being shipped through the mail. 

In addition to Chinese fentanyl being smuggled into the United States across the borders of the United States Chinese companies now ship fentanyl to the United States, relying in the U.S. Postal Service to deliver this deadly illegal drug and others, such as Carfentanyl to addresses in the United States.  In reality, it has become a chemical weapon of mass destruction.

For this report, one of the people interviewed by CBS Correspondent Scott Pelley was the United States Attorney for Cleveland, Ohio, Justin Herdman.

Here is an excerpt from the interview:

Justin Herdman: Carfentanyl is another 100 times more potent than fentanyl. Here you've got 300 grams of powder that could deliver a fatal dose to 150,000 people. Here you've got only five grams of powder which could deliver a fatal dose to over 250,000 people.

Scott Pelley: So if you touch this stuff, it could kill you?

Justin Herdman:  Yeah.

Scott Pelley: Just touch it--

Justin Herdman: There's a reason we have a medic standing by, Scott, and that's because-- an overdose is-- unfortunately it's something that we have to be prepared for, even--even dealing with it in an evidence bag.

Herdman showed us pills that look like prescription opioids but are dangerous counterfeits.

Pelley then asked the obvious question:

Scott Pelley: Where did all this stuff come from?

Justin Herdman: It's from China. It's manufactured in China. These are all related to cases that involve the mail or the use of the postal system. So this, somebody  put this into a box, sealed it up and sent it through the postal system.

The United States Postal System has been, for many years, the most reliable way to smuggle drugs from China to the U.S.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Cronin, the prosecutor whose case against a Chinese smuggler served as the predication for the 60 Minutes report was also interviewed. 

Here is the segment of his interview that underscores China’s complicity in the poisoning of America:

Matt Cronin: It is a fact that the People's Republic of China is the source for the vast majority of synthetic opioids that are flooding the streets of the United States and western democracies.  It is a fact that these synthetic opioids are responsible for the overwhelming increase in overdose deaths in the United States. And it is a fact that if the People's Republic of China wanted to shut down the synthetic opioid industry they could do so in a day.

Last year my article Google vs. Border Security was predicated on a CNN report about how  Google opposes President Trump’s efforts to secure our borders and has refused to help the U.S. military but is happy to work with the Chinese government to launch a search app in China that would block sensitive websites and search terms to comply with Chinese government censorship.

Decisions by corporate and government leaders must be based on two fundamental concerns: survival and morality!

[JZelle]

What’s that quote by Lenin about capitalists selling rope?

[gaijin]

China sees it as payback for their "100 Years of Humiliation", as they term it: Opium Wars, and a bunch of stuff.

I'm not saying we deserve it. I'm saying we need to know that although their primary goal is money, there is also a certain ideology behind it.

A lot of them see themselves as "Out For Justice".

So we have to be twice as resolved.

[arthurus]

This trade war will be costly, indeed, but not nearly so costly as allowing the status quo ante to remain. The trade war is not an existential threat to the nation. Letting China continue to steal our Economy and technology is.

[veracious]

USA, being conquered one battle at a time. Lawfare, industrial espionage, DC treason supporting/forcing the transfer of USA industry to China. DC selling USA for several scores of years, to our enemies.