How do we end the China threat? Former Deputy National Security Advisor to the President K.T. McFarland, CPAC board member Gordon Chang, and Chairman and co-founder of Prague Security Studies Institute Roger Robinson Jr. have the answer at their panel discussion at CPAC in DC 2024.
The panelists agree ending the China threat begins with curbing all economic entwinement with China and ramping up domestic manufacturing in the United States.
“It’s not just investment into Chinese military-linked companies. Xi Jinping, the Chinese ruler, has a doctrine of military-civil fusion, which means that every investment into a private Chinese company gets pipelined to the Chinese military if the military wants it,” explained Chang.
With that in mind, the energy industry is a good place to start to put a significant dent in China’s and its allies’ military funding.
America is uniquely rich in natural energy resources, which can and should be used to our advantage as they were by Ronald Reagan in the Cold War to produce cheap, clean energy and hurt China’s energy business.
“We had a tremendous amount of effort expended in terms of getting oil prices lower,” Robinson recalled of Reagan’s effective energy policy. He emphasized the financial impact and how it impedes the strengthening of our foes,“It is then and now about the money.”
Energy is a good place to start but America will need to go further to protest China’s military threat and human rights violations. Wall Street and big corporate need to get on board and stop investing in Chinese companies and relying on China’s manufacturing. Average Americans also need to get involved and avoid Chinese companies that steal their information and spy on them.
McFarland summarized the ideal American strategy in just two points, “We should do two things. Do you have TikTok on your phones or do your kids? Get rid of it because they’re spying on you even when you’re fast asleep. Number two: elect Donald Trump because you don’t have to worry about all the details of this. He’ll deal with it for you.”
Watch the full conversation on Rumble @CPAC, and make plans to see more great panels at CPAC in DC 2024 at CPAC.org/2025.
