杨逢时：謹防使用“軟實力”的新“冷戰”

杨逢时

謹防使用"軟實力"的新"冷戰" 

楊逢時 

10/10/2008 英文原版

10/10/2018 修改版及中譯版

【註】﹕

本文為十年前我在看了CNN對中國總理溫家寶的採訪後用英文記下的感受﹐ 並和一些學院與媒體作了分享。但當時並沒有引起什麼注意。十年後﹐我為美國副總統彭斯在哈德遜研究所的講話而感恩。沉默的大眾發出了聲音﹐美國人幡然醒悟。聽完副總統的演講﹐我重讀了十年前的隨筆﹐決定在原版基礎上稍作些文字上的調整﹐並翻譯成中文再次與大家分享。

" 孫子兵法"說﹐ "知己知彼﹐百戰百勝";  "不知彼不知己﹐每戰必貽" 。世界終於開始認清了中共的真實面目。正義必勝﹐邪惡必敗。自由世界正在聯合起來對抗中共這個專制政權﹐最後的結果則將取決於中國人民的意志。中國人必須決定是否要有一個徹底的改變來結束共產黨的極權統治﹐做一個真正的自由人還是繼續被奴役。

願上帝保祐美利堅這個世界上最偉大的國家。願自由的曙光在不久的將來照亮華夏大地。  

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近來有一位美國記者問我﹕"中共政權有否收購在美國的任何英文媒體﹖"我在回答他的問題時與他分享了我的這樣一些想法﹕  

在北美的中文媒體事實上早已在不知不覺中被中共所滲透。至於英文媒體﹐我不知道中共實際上是否擁有了他們的股份﹐但由於大企業的商業利益與壓力﹐不少英文媒體已經或正在受到中共的影響。最近在CNN對中國總理溫家寶的訪談中﹐主持人ZAKARIA那種毫無必要的獻媚式的提問令我失望。這個訪談給了中共以誤導美國民眾的又一個機會。如果這片自由的土地一旦被中共佔領﹐我們到哪再去尋找自由呢﹖  

有人說﹐"冷戰"已經結束﹐現在是"和平共處"的時期了。也有人說﹐中共自己也不相信共產主義了。這些斷言果真如此嗎﹖民主和專制究竟能"和平共處"多久﹖也許二者能暫且共存﹐也許為了眼前的利益共存似可苟延﹐但長久合作的可能卻是微乎其微。不管中共像溫家寶那樣把民主講得如何漂亮﹐不管中共把自己裝扮得如何高貴﹐只要中共仍被稱為"中國共產黨"﹐只要毛像仍懸掛在天安門城樓上﹐只要中共還在位統治﹐其基礎意識形態就必然導致其本性的一成不變。所有有關民主的漂亮話不過是延續其統治的老把戲。總而言之﹐世界無法擺脫這一更隱蔽的新"冷戰"。  

"繁榮發展和經濟奇跡"? 

中共從來就是說一套做一套﹐這是他們的本性。比如﹐中共常說他們是"人民的政府"﹐是為"人民服務"的。事實上﹐人民究竟得到了什麼﹖人民的權利在哪裡﹖這個政權貌似拋棄了其原旨的意識形態﹐唯一剩下的目的就是保住統治者的權力與財富。專制與國家資本主義的結合對世界比原先的共產主義更加危險。ZAKARIA問溫家寶﹕"中國的發展速度為世界各國歷史上絕無僅有。什麼是你們成功的關鍵﹖什麼是你們的發展模式﹖" 一個極權國家的發展不須顧及人民的意願，當然比任何其他經濟模式的發展具有快速的效率。在德國的魏瑪共和國的廢墟上崛起的希特勒帝國的飛速經濟發展導致了第二次世界大戰即是另一個這樣的例子。ZAKARIA所感嘆的中國的發展模式給中國的土地和資源造成的破壞，給中國普通民眾帶來的巨大痛苦和損失便是中國的"繁榮發展和經濟奇跡"的支撐所在。(*1) 

中共就是這樣以犧牲十三億人民而暴富。而外國資本為這種剝削源源不斷地輸血﹐則加強與保持了其統治力。特別是他們用外國資本提供的金錢大量購買美國國債﹐使他們在任何必要的時候可以以這一手段向美國政客施壓。他們對中共大船遲早要沉心知肚明﹐這就是為什麼他們企圖將自由世界與中共這隻大船捆綁在一起。沉船時你不救我﹐我們就同歸於盡。 

在中共的統治下﹐中國斥440億美元巨資主辦了史上最昂貴的奧運會。中共以民主社會無法想像的"高效"清空了舉辦奧運的城市以向來自世界各地的客人們展示一個美麗﹑現代﹐方便和乾淨的中國。他們能以高科技行走於太空﹐僅一件宇宙服便可耗資成百上千萬。而與此同時﹐他們對中國百姓的生活品質不聞不問。反而剝奪其基本權利﹐壓制打擊所有持不同政見者。 他們無視因簡陋的校舍而在地震中喪生的孩子們﹐不顧煤礦工人的死活與氾濫成災的有毒食品。 

"和平崛起"﹖ 

共產中國難道真像他自己和一些西方人士宣稱的那樣是"和平崛起"嗎﹖"和平"的定義是什麼﹖難道大量地直接或間接地屠殺本國人民也算"和平"﹖戰爭是否僅限於國家間的兵戎相見﹖即便是這樣﹐中共有一支歷史上最龐大的軍隊。這樣的一支強大的武裝力量可輕易地以進入戰爭狀態對對方造成現實的威攝。  

在這些"和平崛起"的年月裡﹐中共在美國和西方其他國家的所謂"軟實力"上投入了大量的精力和金錢。他們影響和控制媒體﹐組建﹑培訓和擴展文化藝術團體﹑中文學校等各種社團組織。所有這一切全部冠之以"介紹中國文化"與"建設兩國關係"的美名。 

任何對中共起家史有所了解的人都知道﹐新聞媒體與文宣文藝是其兩個拿手好戲﹐在推翻"舊社會"建立"新中國"中發揮了巨大而成功的作用。對這一如今已向美國及西方大舉出口的"軟實力"現象﹐全世界所有擁抱自由的人們務必給予高度的重視﹐務必意識到這是一種迷惑人的國家力量。我們不應低估來自文化戰線的"冷戰"。這種"冷戰"就像一劑毒藥會漸漸地癱瘓人們的思想與精神﹐ 最終傷害自由社會。要知道﹐控制人民，實際上控制一切本是中共自保的內在需求之一。 

"合作開放"導致專制崩潰﹖ 

海外的中文媒體近日自豪地宣稱﹐中共以黨的名義第一次應國家民主研究所之邀參加了美國民主黨全國代表大會。這在歷史上是絕無僅有的。而用中共的話說﹐將中國納入美國政治表現了政黨之間合作的重要性。這一評述畫龍點睛地挑明了中共涉足美國大選的理由。這樣一來﹐中共便在被納入美國政治程序的結構中在國際舞台上發出了"自己的聲音"。根據中共喉舌﹐ 中共代表躋身於美國民主黨代表大會導向了這樣一個結論﹕"中國崛起是21世紀的重大事件，美國希望加強和中國的合作。" 

美國支持一個發展中的國家與支持一個專制政黨是風馬牛不相及的兩件事。民主在中國的發展有賴於人民的努力﹐並非寄希望於從未經過選舉的統治集團﹐尤其是那個為了鞏固自身的統治毫不留情地屠殺自己百姓並對歷史上犯下的罪行毫無悔改的政權。自由世界絕不能信任與善待這樣一個不合法的專制政黨。相反﹐自由世界應當支持為自由民主而戰的中國民眾。就像前東歐共產主義國家的命運一樣，一個沒有得到支持的中國共產黨政權終將會崩潰。只有這樣，中國才能真正走向民主。 

中共向西方開放並致力於經濟發展的唯一目的是為了其政權的苟延殘喘，絕不是為了致富於中國及中國人民。我們是否有理由產生這樣的疑問﹕如果不是基辛格與尼克松向中國敞開了大門﹐中共政權是否已不復存在﹖如果是這樣﹐尼克松是否拯救了中共﹖否則, 中國是否在從內部崩潰後已成為自由世界的一員﹖ 

有人說﹐沒有與外部世界的接觸和對話﹐中國就無法向民主社會邁進。可是東歐各國的民主進程卻並非如此。自二戰後﹐從共產主義向民主社會的轉型並非依賴于"敞開國門"與追求西方生活方式意識的覺醒。實際情況是﹐那些國家直到崩盤的那一刻仍在閉關鎖國。正是自由世界的堅持，努力和壓力對這些國家產生了至關重要的影響，最終導致了東歐共產主義的垮台。如果任由它自我封閉﹐ 中共難以避免重蹈同僚的覆轍而壽終正寢 。 

"一廂情願"的落空-- 誰影響了誰﹖ 

在東歐共產國家的崩潰的陰影之下﹐中共開始向世界高談闊論地大講民主。可遺憾的是﹐他們所說的"民主"卻與中國百姓沒有絲毫關係。帶著和平面具的欺騙不過是企圖使世界忘記這個政權的非法與殘暴。中共正妄想壓倒西方的自由世界，而成為全球上唯一的超級大國以主宰世界。(2*)  

對此﹐西方主流認為﹕與他們合作共事﹐他們就會向我們學習。這種思維隱含了一種臆想的"一廂情願"﹐即﹐一旦共產中國向我們學習，他們就會變得更像我們。而中共對此的回應則是完全地本末倒置。比如﹐他們以從西方學來的高科技為武器﹐制定了一系列的內外對策﹐用以監控﹑打壓與禁聲異議人士。其明顯的一個例子便是雅虎與中共配合向中共當局提供了兩位異議人士的私人郵件及賬戶信息﹐使他們僅僅因通過雅虎發表了不同政見而被監禁十年。(*3) 

如果你把清水與污泥攙和在一起﹐你指望得到什麼樣的水質﹖西方世界也許不該完全拒絕與共產中國的生意往來﹐但當與這個喪失道德﹑無視人權的政權談買賣時﹐我們實際上已犧牲了原則﹐失去了任何從正面影響他們的可能性。事實上﹐中國的環境污染﹑毒食品﹑偽劣產品等正在某種程度上反饋給我們﹐使西方特別是美國的生活品質降低。誰影響了誰﹖ 

商業與道德 --"政經分離"﹖ 

中共試圖說服人們﹐政治與經濟互不依附﹐也就是"政經分離"。他們鼓勵人們僅與他們談生意﹐避免挑戰他們的政治觀念與權力。有人說﹐讓我們先談經貿﹐以後再接觸政治上的問題。先讓他們高興﹐拿到生意再說。權且不說中共的說辭黑白顛倒﹐就連普通的百姓也知道政治與經濟密不可分。 

在中國﹐中共事無巨細全面掌控。以政治櫥窗奧運會為例﹐中共把控制的觸角伸向了任何角落﹐甚至延伸到小女孩臉蛋的漂亮程度決定誰在臺上露面﹐誰在後台演唱。一切都是政治。 如果中國的体育像我們在北京奧運會上所看到的那樣被政治化，那么經濟又如何可能與中國的政治分离？ 

當我們把這一荒謬絕倫的以提昇共產中國形像為目的的微觀掌控從奧運會的體育競賽上昇到經濟與貿易﹐我們就不難看到﹐這不過是中共在各個層面的一貫行為。顯而易見﹐類似奧運會上的微觀掌控在經貿領域裡為中共爭得了無本之木的虛假顏面。在CNN對溫家寶的訪談中﹐ZAKARIA謙卑地向這位中共領導人討教﹕目前美國所經歷的金融危機是否說明了我們才認識到的美國的經濟模式中存在的漏洞與破綻﹖這聽起來似乎是在請溫家寶賜教﹐我們應該向你們學習什麼樣的經濟模式﹖難道美國市場上"Made in China"的商品還嫌不夠﹐連經濟模式也要 "Made in China"嗎﹖  

無視長遠後果的短期利益與貪孌正在主導著我們與共產中國的商業關係。這是一種非常不健康的關係。我們現在必須採取行動，改變我們與共產中國做生意的態度和優先選項。否則﹐如果我們繼續只為抓住短期的時機與快錢而有意忽略雙方的本質不同﹐擱置原則分歧﹐繼續盲人瞎馬﹐自欺欺人﹐我們實際上是在積累一個將要到來的更嚴重更深刻的危機而使我們與後代面臨危險。如果我們要成為負責任的一代人﹐就務必在商業上堅持道德原則。儘管可能會承擔短期損失﹐但最終的勝利將回報我們。美國必須意識到放棄原則的惡果﹐切勿等到為時已晚。 

"中共等同於中國"﹖ 

批評中共絲毫不會傷害中國人及所謂的"中國人民的感情"。"中共等同於中國"是用於洗腦中國人民的宣傳口號。 自中共竊國以來，這種洗腦就一直不斷。 不僅中國人成為這種宣傳的目標﹐中共還試圖說服全世界即中共和中國完全是一回事。 當然，將一個政權或政府與一個國家等同起來實在是無稽之談。 

當我們在與中共打交道時有一個關鍵的問題需時刻記住﹕這個政權非人民所選﹐因此也不代表人民的聲音。在共產中國﹐沒有民意表達的正常渠道。任何中共官方的語言都是把民意操縱成輿論宣傳而釋放。半個多世紀以來﹐中共盜用了"中國"的名義﹐劫持了中國人民。自由世界的人們一定不能讓這一罪行在這地球上具有最多人口的土地上橫行蔓延。  

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中共正把"冷戰" 演變成一種被稱為"軟實力"的隱形新"冷戰" ﹐其貌似無害實用心險惡。為此﹐美國與美國的媒體必須堅守原則﹐堅守普世價值﹐高度警惕這種新型戰爭。我們必須保持自由的聲音，繼續對中共獨裁政權施加壓力﹐支持中國人民的民主運動。 其最終也正是為了每一個美國人，為了我們執愛的美利堅的未來，以及全世界的自由與和平。 

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【註】﹕ 

*(1) 此文寫作之後的這些年來﹐中國更具侵略性地大規模地從美國竊取知識產權與商業機密﹐大量間諜對美國各領域的滲透與攻擊已到達瘋狂的程度﹐使美國每年蒙受大約5000億美元的損失。這一毀滅性的經濟災難不僅體現在金錢上的虧損﹐還直接導致了美國工廠的倒閉﹐甚至整個產業地區的衰敗。一些經濟學家得出的結論是，幾乎整個近期中國的經濟發展都是通過這種掠奪來實現的。  

*(2) 在寫作此文的2008年的之後的幾年﹐中共公開宣布其首要目標是首先稱霸太平洋，然後稱霸全世界。  

*(3) 在本文寫作後十年的2018年﹐互聯網巨頭GOOGLE表達了願為中共開發可為中共控制﹑審查﹐並蒐集用戶信息的軟件﹐以供中共分類獎懲百姓。 

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Beware of the New "Cold War" Employing "Soft Power"

By

FengShi

10/10/2008 (original)

10/10/2018 (edited) 

[Note]:

Ten years ago, I wrote about what concerned me after watching CNN's interview with China's Premier Wen Jiabao.  Then I shared my views with some colleges and media. But, no one paid much attention at that time. Ten years later I am very grateful for Vice President Mike Pence's speech given at Hudson Institute. The silent majority has spoken out. Americans are finally waking up.  After listening to Vice President's speech, I reviewed my 10-year old essay. I decided to share the essay again with some editions. I also translated it into Chinese for the Chinese readers.

The "Art of War" says, "if you know yourself and know your enemy, you will gain victory a hundred times out of a hundred." And "if you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will never be victorious." The world now is beginning to recognize the true face of the Chinese Communist Party. Justice will eventually prevail and the evil will be defeated. As the free world is uniting to fight against this communist regime, the outcome will be determined by the Chinese people. They must need to determine whether to make the ultimate change to end the communist's totalitarian rule, to become free people or remain enslaved.

May God bless the United States, the greatest nation on earth. May liberty shine upon the land of China in the near future.

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Recently an American journalist asked me: "has the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) purchased any English language media broadcasting or publishing in the United States?" I shared my thoughts with him as I tried to answer his question. 

The Chinese language news media in North America are almost all infiltrated by the Chinese Communist Party.  I do not know whether there is any actual ownership of the English media, but because of business interests and pressure through big companies, many US news media have also been influenced by the CCP. In a recent CNN interview by Zakaria with China's Premier Wen Jia Bao, I was disappointed by some of the Zakaria's unnecessarily flattering soft questions. That interview gave the CCP another opportunity to mislead the American people. If this free land were to be occupied by the CCP, where on earth are we going to seek freedom?

Some say the "Cold War" is over and it is time for "cooperation" to coexist peacefully.  Some say the CCP does not believe in communism anymore. Are these assertions really true?  How long can democracy and totalitarian states coexist in peace? Perhaps they can coexist for a short period of time. Perhaps they can coexist longer for shortsighted interests.  Long-term coexistence is utterly unlikely. No matter how beautifully the CCP talks about democracy as Wen Jia Bao does, no matter how noble the CCP tries to appear now; as long as the CCP still stands for the "Chinese Communist Party", as long as Mao's portrait is still hanging on the gate of Heavenly Peace in Tiananmen Square and as long as the CCP retains one party rule, its fundamental ideology will stay the same making the communist nature remain the same.  All the beautiful talk about democracy is an old trick for staying in power. The world is still involved in a "Cold War" but in a new and more insidious fashion. 

" Magnificent Development and Economic Miracle"?

What the CCP says never matches what it does. This is one of the CCP's unwavering characteristics. For example, the CCP always proclaims that it is the "people's government", that it is "serving the people". In reality, what do the people get? Where are the people's rights? This regime appeared to throw away its own original idealism. The only remaining mission is for it to hold onto power and wealth. The present combination of totalitarianism and state capitalism is even a bigger danger to the world than the pure communism which preceded it. Zakaria asked Wen: "China has the fastest growth rate of any country in history. What is the key to your success? What is your model?"

A totalitarian state's development unhampered by requirements for the people's consent can be much faster than that of any other economic development model.  Another example of such a thing is the rise of Hitler from the ashes of the Weimar Republic and the rapid economic development in Germany which ultimately led to World War II. The Chinese development model resulted in much destruction to the resources and land of China together with massive suffering and loss to China's ordinary people; all to prop up China's " magnificent development and economic miracle". (*1) 

The CCP has become rich through the exploitation and sacrifice of its own 1.3 billion people. Foreign capitalists have been heavily involved in financing this exploitation allowing the CCP to maintain and increase power over the people. In particular, the money provided by the foreign capitalists can be used to purchase United States bonds. This provides a device to put pressure on American politicians whenever the CCP wants to do so.  The CCP knows well that its ship of totalitarian rule will sink sooner or later.  That is why they tried to tie the free world to this CCP ship, so that when the ship sinks, either we all sink with them, or we have to save them in order to save ourselves.

While under the rule of the CCP, China hosted the most expensive Olympic Games in the history of the world. The Beijing Olympic Games cost of over $44 billion. The CCP cleared entire neighborhoods of a city with great "efficiency" to present a beautiful, modern, convenient and clean place for entertaining foreign visitors from all around the world. They could acquire the high technology to walk in space and spent millions on each spacesuit. But at the same time the CCP doesn't care about Chinese people's lives and quality of life. Rather, they deprive everyone's basic rights and suppress all the political dissidents. They failed to build decent school buildings to prevent children from being killed by earthquakes; they neglected and ignored coal mine workers' tragedies and endless food poisoning disasters.

"Rising Peacefully"?

Is communist China really "rising peacefully" as the CCP and some in the West claim? What definition of "peace" are we talking about? Should killing its own people directly and indirectly on a mass scale be viewed as peaceful conduct? Does war only refer to a military action between countries? Even if this is the case, the CCP maintains the largest land army in the history of earth.  A huge armed force is always used to threaten and eventually prosecute a conventional war. 

In these years of "peaceful rise" the CCP has invested a lot of effort and money into so-called "soft power" in the United States and the rest of the Western world. Examples of soft power are influencing and controlling press media groups; establishing, training and expanding performing arts groups, cultural organizations, associations and Chinese schools.  All of this is done under the rubric of "introducing Chinese culture and building relationships between the two countries".

Anyone who studies the history of the CCP knows that the press media and performing arts are two favorite weapons used against others. These have played a large and successful role in overthrowing the "old society" while establishing the "new China". This "Soft Power" phenomenon is now being exported by the CCP to America and throughout the world. All of the world's people who embrace liberty must be aware of this delusive state power.  We should not underestimate this "cold war" through culture which is a poison that slowly paralyzes people's minds and spirits. It ultimately damages free society. To have control over the people, indeed to control everything, is one of the CCP's intrinsic needs for self-preservation. 

"Collaboration and Openness" Led to Totalitarian's Collapse? 

Recently overseas Chinese news media proudly said that for the first time in the name of the party, the CCP had accepted an invitation from the United States National Democratic Institute to send delegates to attend the Democratic Party Presidential Convention. This has never occurred before in history.  In the words of the CCP's, the inclusion of China at an American political convention emphasizes the importance of cooperation between the political parties. This highlights the reason for the CCP participation in an American political convention.  The Communist Chinese Party's voice was heard in by the international community under the umbrella of inclusion in the very fabric of an American political process. The CCP delegates to the Democratic National Convention concluded, according to the CCP media, that "China's rising in the 21st century is a significant event.  Therefore, America hopes to strengthen cooperation with China." 　　 

America supporting a developing country is one thing; supporting a dictatorial ruling party is quite another. Democratic development in China is dependent on the people's effort, not on a ruling party that has never been elected to power. This is especially true for a regime which has without hesitation killed its own people to maintain its power; a regime which has never apologized for any of the crimes it has perpetrated. The free world should not trust or befriend this illegitimate dictatorial party. Instead the free world should extend its support to true democratic forces led by people who are fighting for freedom and democracy in China. Much as was the fate of former Eastern European Communist countries, an unsupported Chinese communist regime will collapse. Only then can China truly move toward democracy. 

The CCP's sole purpose in opening China to the West and pushing for swift economic development is survival and power, is not to benefit the Chinese people, and China as a country. Is it reasonable to ask whether the CCP would have already failed and then vanished if Kissinger and Nixon had not opened the door to China? If this is the case, did the Nixon initiative save the CCP? Otherwise, would China have already become a true part of the free world after the CCP collapsed from within? 

Some people argue that without outside contact and communication China could not move toward a democratic society. However, when we consider Eastern European countries we find that post-World War II conversion from communism to a democratic society was not contingent on a process of "opening up" and awakening to a better way of life as found in the West. What actually happened was the communist countries remained closed until they imploded. It was the free world's persistence, efforts and pressure that had a vital impact on these countries and eventually caused fall of communism in Eastern Europe. It is likely that the CCP would have followed the same route and perished if simply left isolated.

The Fall of " Delusional Fantasy" -- Who Influenced Who? 

Observing the failure of Eastern European communist states, the CCP began talking about "democracy" loudly to the world.  Regrettably the CCP said nothing about democracy to the people of China itself. The CCP put on a peace mask in an attempt to lull the world into forgetting its ruthlessness and illegitimacy.  The CCP is trying to overpower the Western free world and become the single "superpower" in order to dominate the world.  (2*) 

The response from the West has been suggestions to work together so that communist China can learn from us. This mainstream thinking implies a kind of "delusional fantasy": that once communist China learns from us they will become more like us. In response to this, the CCP has turned this initiative upside down. For example, communist China has instituted internal and external countermeasures where Western technology has been adopted as a weapon to silence and persecute political dissidents within China.  A flagrant example of this was when Yahoo! cooperated with the CCP to provide two dissidents' private emails and account information to the communist authorities. Both dissidents were then sentenced to 10 years of jail for simply expressing their contrary or different political opinions on Yahoo!. (3*)   

If you mix muddy and clean water, what kind of water will you get? The West may not totally oppose doing business with communist China.  But when we do business with a regime bereft of morality and respect for human rights, we have actually sacrificed our principles and any reasonable possibility of affecting China in a positive way. In fact, the Chinese pollution, food poisoning, poor quality products etc. have all been reflected back to us. The West and in particular the United States now has a lower standard of living than it could have had. Who influenced who?

Business and Morality -- "Politics and Economics Can be Separated"?

The CCP tries to convince people that "economics and politics can be separated". They encourage people to develop economic trade with them without challenging their political ideology and power. Some say we can work on economic issues first, and worry about political problems later.  We can let the CCP be happy.  We can get the business we want.  In spite of assertions by the CCP to the contrary, even the most ordinary person recognizes that politics and economics cannot be separated.

The CCP controls everything from the smallest to the largest in China. As an example, the Beijing Olympics, which was in reality a political showcase, took resources from everyone in China.  The CCP extended control to every issue, no matter how small.   It even judged the beauty of a little girl's face to determine who was on the stage pretending to sing and who was actually singing but hidden in the background. It was all politics. If sports in China are politicized like what we have seen in the Beijing Olympics, how could economics be separated from politics in China?

When we expand our thinking from the sports of the Olympics to commerce in general we recognize the micromanagement done to enhance China's image with the Olympics is a much more general symptom. It becomes apparent that all of commerce is similarly micromanaged to produce the best possible image of China without any real substance to back up that image. The CNN interviewer Zakaria humbly asked the CCP leader's opinion about whether the current American financial crisis was because:  "the American model has many flaws in it that we are just recognizing now." This statement begs the question of what economic model we should learn from the CCP.  Are we trying to import more than manufactured products with the label "Made in China"? Did Zakaria also want us to import the communist economic model as it was "Made in China"?

Short-term interests and greed without consideration of long-term consequences seem to dominate our interaction with China. This is a very unhealthy process.  We must act now to change our attitude and priorities in doing business with China. If we remain blindfolded, play dumb, put differences in principle aside, ignore the fundamental problems, and only care about seizing the short-term opportunities and quick monetary rewards, we are actually preparing for a greater and much more serious crisis in the future.  Both our generation and our children will be damaged. If we want to be responsible we must insist on applying our moral principles when doing business. Although there may be some short-term losses, we will be rewarded with true victory in the end.  Before it is too late, Americans must understand the consequences of not standing firmly on principles. 

"The CCP Equals China"?

Criticism of the CCP does not hurt the Chinese people nor does it hurt their "feelings".  The Slogan, "the CCP equals China" is propaganda continuously used to brainwash Chinese people.  This brainwashing has occurred ever since the CCP seized power. It is not only the Chinese people who have been a target of this propaganda. The CCP has tried to convince the entire world that the CCP and China are exactly the same thing.  Of course, it is always nonsense to equate a type of regime or government with a nation. 

When we are dealing with the CCP, it is essential to keep in mind that this regime is not elected by the people nor does it represent the people's interests. Ordinary Chinese have no voice which can be heard. Any statement about China from inside of communist China is manipulated and then released as propaganda by the CCP.  For over half of a century the CCP has misappropriated the name of China, and hijacked the people of China. The free world must take care not to further enhance this crime perpetrated on the largest nation on earth.

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The CCP has taken the "Cold War" and morphed it into a stealthy new form called "Soft Power" which appears innocuous but in fact is quite sinister. Therefore, America and American media must stand firmly on principles and universal values, and to be highly vigilant in this new type of warfare. We must keep the free voice alive to continue pressure on the CCP dictatorship and to support Chinese people's democratic movements. Doing so is ultimately for the sake of every American, the future of our beloved United States, and the freedom and peace around the world.

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[Note]:

(1*) In the years since this essay was originally written, China has aggressively stolen both manufacturing capacity and intellectual property from the United States. The penetration and attacks of a large number of spies on various fields in the United States have reached a level of madness. The financial loss to the United States for just the theft of the intellectual property is thought to be almost half a trillion dollars per year.  The destruction caused by the theft of manufacturing capacity has resulted in not only similar dollar losses but also in the loss of many manufacturing cities and even regions throughout the entire United States. Some economists have concluded that almost the entire recent economic development of China has occurred through this pillage.

(2*) In the years since this essay was written in 2008, the CCP has openly announced its primary goal is first Pacific Ocean domination and subsequently world domination.

(3) *Another 2018 example is the willingness of Google to develop special software for China.  This software will allow the CCP to track the behavior patterns and interests of Chinese people enabling the CCP to classify them for privilege or punishment.