Biden Admin. Is Treating China with Kid Gloves while Bullying Developing Countries, Experts Say

In the wake of a House Oversight Committee hearing on Wednesday examining the influence that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has gained within U.S. federal agencies, Republican lawmakers and experts are warning that the Biden administration has failed to confront China’s aggression while simultaneously pushing unwanted social policies on developing countries, which has driven them into the financial arms of the communist regime.

Witnesses at the hearing charged the Biden administration with failing to treat the CCP as an adversary for decades, leading to the unprecedented rise of China on the world stage. “The U.S. is now in a new Cold War,” argued James Fanell, a former U.S. Navy captain. “Over three decades, the U.S. had ample time to prevent [China’s] rise and to retard its growth, even to support the overthrow of the CCP, but it did not. Those strategic choices must be explained. Why did the U.S. assist, not prevent, the rise of its peer challenger? Was it entirely the result of a masterful, protracted political warfare campaign by the masters of deception, the CCP?”

Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas), a member of the House Oversight Committee, agreed with Fanell’s assessment during Thursday’s edition of “Washington with Tony Perkins.”

“[W]hat we have to recognize is that they’re [engaging in] unrestricted warfare … against the United States,” he emphasized. “… [W]e keep talking of them as competitors. We need to recognize that they’re an enemy, and they do not have the best intentions for our nation. … [T]hem replacing us as the preeminent force on the world stage would certainly not be good for humanity as well. And so we have to stand up strong. We have to recognize the situation that we’re in, and we have to be willing to make the tough decisions to push back on this communist agenda that they’re trying to foist upon the whole world.”

As Mary Kissel, a former senior advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State, noted during the hearing, one way the CCP engages in this warfare is by conducting seemingly “innocuous and even friendly exchanges” with U.S. diplomats through “sister city agreements, business chamber meetings, think tank conferences, and ‘interviews’ with Chinese propaganda outlets.”

Kissel went on to issue a warning to American businesses regarding China’s infiltration efforts. “Educating Americans on grey zone Chinese influence operations is also deeply important for our business community,” she contended. “I serve as a director of two publicly traded companies. Few American executives and directors are aware that they, like our diplomats, are prime targets of Chinese influence operations, which aim to identify prominent Americans who may now, or in the future, be convinced to aid Beijing in some form or fashion.”

Erik Bethel, former U.S. Executive Director at the World Bank, further detailed how the communist regime is attempting to shape “global development, rules, regulations, and standards” through its involvement in the International Telecommunication Union, which “impacts global telecommunications standards, with significant ramifications for technology and innovation worldwide.” Bethel also revealed how a CCP member ran the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) for eight years and “seamlessly integrated it” into China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a program that has saddled massive debts on developing countries in financial distress.

As Congressman Cloud observed, the Biden administration’s penchant for pushing controversial social policies onto developing nations has ended up helping China’s BRI.

“(O)ne of the very first eye-opening conversations I had as a brand new member was with an ambassador from another country,” he recounted. “They came in and said, ‘Hey, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for the aid your country sends our country.’ And then after some time of talking, he said, ‘Can I take my ambassador hat off for a moment? … Every dollar you send our country goes against Christian values and family values. And frankly, our country would be better off if we didn’t receive any.’ And I’ve heard that same situation from a number of countries where they say, ‘We appreciate what America has stood for, and we don’t want to align ourselves with China, but China [is] working to give us ports, bridges, and roads. We know that’s a debt trap.’”

Cloud continued, “But from our State Department, they get a lecture, and it’s things that undermine the society and values that they hold dear [and] not what they want to be involved with. And so it puts them in a difficult situation. … This is not advancing any sort of strategic interest of the United States at all. It’s frankly a false religion that they’ve decided to try to foist on the world. And we’ve got to make sure that we stop their efforts to do so.”