Category: Thinking About China

America’s Pandemic Dictatorship

Commentary With the stroke of a pen, President Joe Biden established a new plan that strongly resembles legislation. However, no one in the legislative branch of government agreed to it or had anything to do with its creation. The president’s student loan forgiveness plan is just the latest exercise in what amounts to government-by-fiat in…


This Moon Race Is for Keeps

Commentary If the United States and the democracies are to prevail over the China-Russia alliance and deter wars that could consume generations, it is imperative that the democracies win the second race to the moon, which this time is for keeps. America and the democracies would gain a slight lead with a successful Aug. 29…


China’s Mortgage Revolt

Commentary Something rare is happening in China. Protests and boycotts are expanding. Not for democracy, exactly, as in 1989 in Tiananmen Square and up to 2020 in Hong Kong. The protests today—from Beijing to Guangxi and recently in Hong Kong—are outwardly against property developers who absconded with down payments, never to deliver the promised apartments. These…


The ‘October Surprise’: How Can World Events Be Used to Win an Election?

Commentary The phrase “October Surprise” refers to an unanticipated event prior to U.S. national elections that may affect the election’s outcome. For example, in 1980, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan faced this issue. 1980: Carter Versus Reagan William Casey, Reagan’s campaign manager and former director of the CIA, first used the term “October Surprise” to…


The US Democratic Party Imitates the CCP in Several Areas

Commentary The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the U.S. Democratic Party are big on unified messaging (also known as propaganda), lockstep voting, and democracy according to their own specific definitions. The parallels are eerie. Let us examine them. Unified Messaging In communist China, the short-term and long-term narratives of CCP leader Xi Jinping and his…


Washington’s Flawed New Law: Part 2

Commentary This article is the second of a three-part series on the problems with the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The first in this series introduced the act and took up its focus on Washington’s preferred green initiatives. This second part will take up the revenue sources that the law dubiously claims will more than…


The CCP Is Destroying China’s Future

Commentary Social and environmental costs have long taken a back seat to the Chinese leadership’s drive for national economic and technological development. But now the leader of China is seeking a third term. Has he earned it? It depends on the metric. A quick recap for context is helpful. Remember the Beijing Model? It was…


Countering Progressivism in the US Military

Commentary The rise of communist China requires the United States to employ the entirety of its capabilities, including a professional military. If the U.S. military loses its professionalism, it will eliminate its combat effectiveness and ability to innovate. In turn, this will weaken U.S. military power and ability to sustain alliance commitments in the competition…


Reshoring, Robotics, and Roller Disco

Commentary In the 1970s, with America’s market opening to China engineered by those peerless (not) ethicists and strategists, Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, China became the “world’s factory” because many of America’s own factories moved there for the cheap and compliant workforce. Now folks are starting to realize—in part due to the pandemic, evidence of…


On Taiwan, How Many Asian Countries Stand With the US?

Commentary The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) insists that there is only “one China” and that the people of Taiwan answer to Beijing. Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian-in-chief, has said, on more than one occasion, that “reunification” with Taiwan will occur, even if force is necessary. Contrary to popular belief, the United States does not support Taiwan independence. According to an official statement, the…