“President Ronald Reagan said that he dealt with the Soviet Union on the basis of ‘trust but verify’. When it comes to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), I say we must distrust and verify”. With these words in a major speech delivered at the Richard M. Nixon Library on July 23, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo turned the page to the next phase of America’s relationship with the People’s Republic of China, ending a five-decade experiment beginning with President Nixon in the hope that the Chinese Communists would evolve into some semblance of Western-style democracy and assimilate into the world order of nations. So has this now become a “cold war”? By most definitions, I think so, but listen to Pompeo: “This isn’t about containment. Don’t buy that. It’s about a complex new challenge that we’ve never faced before. The Soviet Union was closed off from the free world. Communist China is already within our borders.”
No one is suggesting that this cold war necessarily become a hot one, but it has certainly accelerated far beyond a trade war in which a deal can be struck so that everyone can go back to their business as usual. This is a major long-term clash between two incompatible systems–free market democracy vs. a mercantilist/increasingly totalitarian/often criminal state, and only one system will survive intact. This is a fight about whose century the 21st will be–who will define it, what model will prevail–and at the end of the day we’re in effect demanding that China put its entire business model on the table; every component is at stake. Pompeo again: “We must admit a hard truth that should guide us in the years and decades to come, that if we want to have a free 21st century, and not the Chinese century of which Xi Jinping dreams, the old paradigm of blind engagement with China simple won’t get it done.” Are you listening U. S. Chamber of Commerce, National Basketball Association, Apple, Google, Amazon, Silicon Valley, Hollywood?
Finally, his message carried some urgency along with hope: “Securing our freedoms from the CCP is the mission of our time, and America is perfectly positioned to lead it because our founding principles give us that opportunity.” Let’s hope that we have the courage to defend them.
This speech received far too little attention in the media. We must do what we can to prompt those whom we know to read it.
Jim, again well said. I did not see Pompeo’s comments until now. So, I am glad you brought them out front and center.
I fear internal winds, largely fanned by false narratives, have much of, and maybe most of, our citizens too preoccupied to pay attention to the greater external threat of China.
We will learn on Nov 3rd whether Americans common sense will prevail . . .
Right on all counts, friends, but I’m wondering when the “silent majority” will “unmask”.
As in my comment on the previous article, our enemy is a spiritual one whose tactics are lies (John 8:44) as manifested through the media (or in this case lack of coverage) and our educational system. Does America know how to combat lies? Jesus’ quotation on the tower of the University of Texas gives us the answer. (John 8:31-32). Let us pray the tower will not be torn down if the author of the quote is discovered.
Given current events, we can’t count on it. Texas National Guard get ready!
Unfortunately the Democratic Party is a natural and willful ally of the CCP. Democrats march in collectivist unity. The anti-Democratic opposition is tattered, torn and disunified even in the face of this great peril.
Great nations die from within, always.
If Democrats seize the Swamp, this best country in the history of the planet will disappear, never to be seen again.