Although the United States has refused to cooperate with China and sign any memorandum of understanding to implement BRI projects, that has not stopped China from altering their strategy to bypass federal-level policy. China is quite adaptable and realized that the co-opting of subnational, local, and state-level elites can yield many of the same benefits that come from national BRI deals. Much like a common thief may reason, they are no longer using the front door and have resorted to breaking in through the back. The party uses its United Front proxies, which are often disguised as peaceful non-governmental organizations or community groups, to lobby local officials to allow bids by Chinese state-owned or affiliated contractors for various infrastructure projects within their districts. Many of these bids have been successful and have even expanded into attempts to bid on federal-level projects. This strategy has allowed China to increase their leverage over American infrastructure, effectively holding American companies and public utilities at ransom over Chinese demands. You can think of it as either a kill-switch or a coercive economic tool. In an act of war, what is stopping China from covertly altering the speed of your subway cars to affect physical harm? They can also utilize the infrastructure projects to halt US exports and goods in the unsuspecting event of a canal or bridge coincidentally not working properly at the right moment.
The presence of Chinese digital firms in our society also poses serious risks for data privacy, as we know the CCP exploits data to further their repressive campaigns of wiping out any and all dissent domestically and abroad. All Chinese firms are required to abide by China’s new national security law, which forces companies to hand over data to authorities at any moment, with no course of due process. China has also ingrained in their constitution the policy of civil-military fusion, which requires that specifications for any project, especially physical infrastructure such as ports and bridges, must be aligned with the People’s Liberation Army’s needs. Therefore, we have to realize that we are no longer dealing with the typical trappings of Western investment and development. We are in a new era where the CCP expands their influence and power via the aforementioned zero-sum mentality that they publicly lambast other nations for perpetuating.
Alongside increased US Government attention and pushback, corporate America needs to effectively make decisions that are best not only for its shareholders, but for the American people. China’s long-term capture of corporate elites has made this strategy difficult to implement, but it’s necessary. The American worker deserves a whole-of-society approach to ensuring that they are free to do business and keep their intellectual property in safe hands. The CCP has long convinced US businesses to invest in China for its expansive market access. However, that does not mean that the CCP prioritizes pro-business relationships above all, as we have seen with its destructive policies globally. They have provided a “carrot” for short-term gains, and then utilized their nefarious “stick” of economic leverage to fulfill their own geopolitical goals. Above all, Americans must know that the survival of the party is their first and foremost goal. We have seen what the CCP does to its own national champions, such as Alibaba and Tencent, when the party feels as if its grip on power becomes questionable.
The old mentality of changing China to become a responsible stakeholder in the global environment was idealistic, yet it has proven to be a false hope. We must deal with the China that is in front of us, and not with the one in which we hope for them to become. Americans must prioritize their own independence by ensuring that our critical technologies and infrastructure are no longer at the risk of being leveraged for our adversaries’ political and economic advantage. This strategy will only work if our country’s increasingly dysfunctional and paid-for legislators mandate that corporate America cannot engage in transactions and investments with Chinese entities which were created to destroy American dominance in the financial and currency markets. Capital market restrictions must be put into place, as we know that a large portion of CCP revenue comes from unwitting pensioners and fund investors. The BRI is, by far, the greatest geopolitical and societal challenge to the American way of life. We no longer have the option of staying silent and praying for a different outcome or a pacified Beijing. The evidence of the CCP’s intentions is laid out among the global catastrophes it has caused; and as we know from the COVID-19 pandemic, global issues eventually come to our doorstep. As a result, corporate America must be forced to take America’s side in this long strategic challenge.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/populace-hostages-corporate-americas-advancement-chinas-belt-and-roadA direct indictment of the complete folly of The Kissinger Doctrine. All correct, but also I fear effectively impossible to reverse at this point sans a Trumpian overhaul of our entire national legal statutes governing economic activity and corporate conduct.
