Author: Frank V. Vernuccio, Jr.

The era of great power competition has returned. It comes at a difficult time for the U.S.

American armed forces were barely recovering from the reduced funding of the Obama era. There was a brief respite under Trump, but the recent capture of both the White House and Congress by those not inclined to recognize the enhanced danger and respond with adequate funding has placed national security in danger.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, many hoped and believed that, with the end of the Cold War, the era of “great power competition” had come to a close. Unfortunately, those hopes were soon dashed.  The belligerent Vladimir Putin replaced Boris Yeltsin as head of Russia. Putin’s dream is a restoration of the Soviet Empire.  Even more worrisome, China moved rapidly, intensely, and successfully to develop a superpower caliber military, which it has wielded aggressively in the Indo-Pacific region.

Beyond funding, the composition of the armed forces must change to recognize the different challenges they now face.  Gone are the days when adversaries fielded less sophisticated and smaller forces. Russia has a larger nuclear force, and China, a larger navy.

The U.S. Marine Corps is moving to acknowledge this dramatic change. The Marine Corps commandant, David H. Berger, noted in a study that his predecessor believed “the defining attributes of our current force design are no longer what the nation requires of  the Marine Corps… The Marine  Corps is not organized, trained, equipped, or postured  to meet the demands of the rapidly evolving future  operating environment… I assess that the current force  is unsuited to future requirements in size, capacity, and  specific capability.”

A report on the structure of the Marines gloomily noted that enhanced funding is not on the horizon, stating “Operating under the assumption that we will not receive  additional resources, we must divest certain existing  capabilities and capacities to free resources for essential new capabilities. The most logical way to approach divestment is to take a systems perspective and reduce infantry battalions while proportionally reducing the organizations dedicated to supporting these battalions – direct support artillery, ground mobility assets, assault support aviation, light attack aviation, and combat service support capabilities whose capacity is similarly related to the size of the ground and air combat elements to be supported.”

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Since the end of the Second World War, the Pacific had been, in strategic terms, an “American Lake.”  While some tension had existed with the Soviet Navy, the dominance of U.S. forces had been overwhelming. However, that has been dramatically altered. China’s largest-on-the globe navy places American and allied forces at deep risk.

For some time, the Marines had come to resemble the U.S. Army, operating in a somewhat similar fashion and with the type of heavy equipment typical of land operations.  The storied legacy of “island hopping,” so emblematic of Marine operations during the Second World War, appeared to be a thing of the past.  While the U.S. Navy was overwhelmingly more dominant than any potential rival, the need for beachhead operations, such as those on Iwo Jima, Saipan, and other Pacific enemy strongholds during WW2, seemed remote.

Unfortunately, that is no longer the case.  The requirement to secure island bases and engage in operations to maintain lines of resupply with America’s Pacific allies has re-emerged.

The Marines, according to a 2020 study, will have to divest certain types of equipment more suited for extended land operations, such as tanks, and replace them with other weapons. There are shortfalls in expeditionary long-range precision  fires; medium-to-long-range air defense systems;  short-range (point defense) air defense systems;  high-endurance, long-range unmanned systems with  intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance,  electronic warfare and lethal strike capabilities and disruptive and less-lethal capabilities appropriate for  countering malign activity by actors pursuing maritime  “gray zone” strategies. 

The Marines will always strive to complete their mission. Whether the politicians give them the resources to do so is the concern.

Illustration: National Park Service

The media has refused to dwell on the reality that America and its’ friends and allies are imperiled as never before since the Biden Administration took office.  

Russia has attacked a key pipeline (don’t believe the criminal organization story; nothing happens in Russia without Putin’s permission.) It is openly threatening Ukraine, and has apparently intimidated the U.S. Navy away from a Black Sea deployment. Moscow has stationed intimidating forces in the Arctic. It has developed a missile capable of launching a nuclear weapon that could destroy England with a single bomb. Beijing has taken control of a former U.S. airbase on the island of Kiribati, just 1,800 miles from Pearl Harbor.  China’s aggression escalates daily. The Philippines is under consistent incursions, Australia is threatened, both economically and physically.  Israel has come under the deadliest attack In years. The U.S. southern border is essentially a sieve.

These events did not occur spontaneously, nor are they necessarily the result of long-standing trends. They are the direct result of a current White House that does not prioritize defense issues, a Congress intent on spending trillions on questionable domestic programs while essentially cutting the Pentagon’s budget when inflation is taken into account, and a media disinterested in reporting on reporting on all the above.

Putin intimidates Ukraine and threatens to use both battlefield and new strategic nuclear weapons. Xi Jingping tells his troops to prepare for combat. Iran continues to defy bans on the development of nuclear weapons and ramps up funding for terrorist organizations. While all this is occurring, President Biden’s Secretary of Defense is concentrating on transgender issues in the military and his CIA officials look to hire “cisgender applicants with anxiety disorders.” Is it any wonder that Moscow and Beijing feel that the time is ripe for aggression?

Biden’s track record and prior rhetoric is part of the problem.  During his tenure as Vice President, the U.S. refused to even issue a diplomatic protest when China invaded the Philippines Exclusive Economic Zone, a move condemned by the World Court at the Hague.  When Russia annexed Ukraine, the Obama-Biden Administration did virtually nothing in response. For reasons that have yet to be explained, that same White House sent pallet-loads of untraceable cash to Iran and agreed to an absurd nuclear deal that allows Iran, which has pledged “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” to be completely free to build nukes as early as 2024. Biden, you may recall, also signaled weakness when he urged Obama not to go after Osama Bin Laden.  During the 2020 presidential campaign, candidate Biden criticized President Trump’s tough stance on China.

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No area highlights the disastrous results of the Biden Administration’s foreign policy outlook as much as the Middle East.  Recall a distant time the media considers shrouded in antiquity (last year!) when dramatic improvements between the Jewish State and its neighbors were being made. Solid U.S. support dissuaded substantive attacks it.

But Biden’s Progressive-inspired support for the Palestinians and the bizarre tilt towards Iran altered that paradigm. John Kerry’s betrayal of Israel in his dealings with Iran was just the tip of the iceberg.  For decades, Leftists, who have extensive influence on the Biden Administration, have pushed the anti-Israel “BDS” (Boycott, Disinvestment, Sanction) agenda, a signal to Hamas and other groups that the Jewish state does not have the full backing of the current Administration.

As China edges closer to Hawaii, Russia moves towards another annexation, and Iran accelerates its proxy war on Israel, all explosive (literally and figuratively) issues, the U.S. media remains quiescent. The explanation isn’t hard to understand. Although defense spending accounts for only about 14% of all federal spending, the Left sees every dollar spent on it as a dollar taken away from the domestic programs that it counts on to persuade their voting base to continue voting for it.

Photo: The Guard of Honor of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) take part in the military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War on Red Square in Moscow. (Xinhua/Bai Xueqi)

CHINA

The US is deeply concerned about the rapid expansion of the China’s nuclear capabilities, including its development of novel delivery systems, according to Price. “These developments underscore that the PRC, as we’ve said before, is deviating from its decades-long nuclear strategy based on minimum deterrence,” he noted.

As of the end of September has launched at least 250 ballistic missiles this year. The latest test is of a hypersonic missile that circled the globe before landing near its target. Price said that “All of this is concerning, especially concerning, I should say, given the PRC’s lack of transparency into its evolving nuclear posture. And this nuclear buildup just, in our view, reinforces the importance of pursuing practical measures with the PRC to reduce nuclear risk.’ The Biden Administration has reached out to Beijing, he added, to make it clear Washington is interested in engaging with Beijing in the context of these powerful weapons and weapons systems.

HONG KONG

The United States remains seriously concerned at the continued erosion of human rights and fundamental freedoms, including political participation, in Hong Kong. Recently, there has been an increase in politically-motivated prosecutions, including through the National Security Law, targeting Hong Kong’s teachers, labor unions, lawyers, journalists, health care workers, student unions, and individual citizens.  Ned Price, Spokesman for the State Department stated that the is calling on the “Beijing and Hong Kong authorities to release those unjustly detained and cease their crackdown on peaceful civil society organizations.”  

Hong Kong authorities continue to disqualify scores of pro-democracy district councilors, who received their public mandate from free and fair elections in 2019. He pointed out that these retroactive and targeted disqualifications, based on the Hong Kong authorities’ arbitrary determination that these district councilors’ loyalty oaths are invalid, prevent people in Hong Kong from participating meaningfully in their own governance. Chinese President Xi Jinping has increased its harsh treatment of Hong Kong amid increasing tensions across the Taiwan Strait and in the South China Sea.

EUROPEAN UNION

Secretary of State Tony Blinken and High Representative Borrell of the EU recently met and agreed to further strengthen their joint engagement in the Western Balkans in support of the region’s progress on its European path.  In a statement issued by the State Department this week, Blinken said “We underscore our full support for the EU’s enlargement process.  EU accession, a stated priority for the whole Western Balkans, helps consolidate democratic institutions, protect fundamental rights, and advance the rule of law. This region belongs in the European Union.” From a US perspective, closer integration will enhance stability and contribute to prosperity for the people of the region. In contrast, Moscow sees this as further evidence of Western intrusion into its sphere of influence and an increase in, and direct threat to, its national security. 

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EQUADOR

Secretary Blinken traveled to Equador this past week to talk with its US partners about what the Biden Administration calls the listening tour of its “Build Back Better World Program” to make investments, particularly in climate-resilient infrastructure projects, with high environmental as well as labor standards. Blinken says “That’s going to create jobs, it’s going to support local communities, it’s going to make progress against the climate crisis – all at the same time.”   

NORTH KOREA

The US is continuing to work toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. US Special Representative Kim emphasized Washington’s condemnation of the DPRK’s October 19 ballistic missile launch, which violates multiple UN Security Council resolutions, and called on the DPRK to refrain from further provocations and engage in sustained and substantive dialogue. Kim again expressed the United States’ support for providing humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable North Koreans.

IRAN

Frustration continues between reporters and the State Department. When questioned by a reporter at a press briefing this week about the status of the JCPOA, State Department Spokesman Price said the US is neither optimistic, nor pessimistic. To clarify the issue, he added: “We are taking into account precisely what we are hearing from the Iranians, what we are not hearing from the Iranians, what we are seeing from the Iranians, what we are not seeing from the Iranians.” Price added that the US is “in the midst of – in the midst of watching closely as the Iranians, it seems, form their own consensus as to what path they would like to choose.” Perhaps, this is as clear the Biden Administration can get?

Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept. during the Reagan Administration.

Dead reckoning was once commonly used by sailing ships to determine how far a boat had traveled and at what angle. By taking numerous readings, and using the last known position as a guidepost, a captain could identify his current location. It allowed him to plot a course across great expanses of ocean. When it comes to relations with China, the United States is like a captain who failed to take readings along the journey and now has no idea where he is or what lies ahead. 

For more than 30 years Washington assumed China would emerge as a friendly nation and join the international rules-based system that has stabilized the rest of the world for hundreds of years. It is, after all, what other forward-looking, great nations have done over the centuries. The leaders in Washington, however, are not examining the historic signposts or correctly analyzing the trajectory of the bilateral  relationship. Today the world faces a belligerent communist giant determined to remake the world in its image. China’s modern-day emperor is its president, Xi Jinping. Not unlike the emperors in the post-Warring States Period (475-221 BC), Xi views China as the center of the world. His policies and long-term goals reflect his intention if only someone had “dead reckoned” China’s hegemonic course.

Washington, and the rest of the democratic world, chose to believe China was three-to-four generations of military technology behind the West. At the State Department after the US normalized relations with Beijing, more than one senior leader assured those who would listen that the communist state “would not catch up to the US  in our lifetime.” It turned out that this was not the case. China may have been a grain-importing nation under Deng Xiaoping, but today under President Xi China’s space program is on par with the West. Its submarines, ships, and planes travel the oceans and China is trading aggressively with most nations around the world using stolen and home-grown intellectual property. Washington continues to act “shocked” by China’s technological advances as if there was no indication that a communist state could evolve to produce it. Washington needs to recognize that Xi Jinping is destabilizing the world and the Biden Administration is complicit. 

This week Demetri Sevastopulu and Kathrin Hille, writing in the Financial Times, reported that “China tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile in August that circled the globe before speeding toward its target, demonstrating an advanced space capability that caught US intelligence by surprise.” Analysts in Washington said the test showed that China “has made outstanding progress” in its hypersonic weapons and is far more advanced that American intelligence assumed was the case. Sevastopulu and Hille quoted several analysts, including one who said “… We have no idea how they did this.” Taylor Fravel, a nuclear weapons policy expert at MIT who is familiar with the Chinese program said that the development of a working hypersonic glide vehicle armed with a nuclear warhead could help China “negate” the US missile defense systems that are designed to destroy incoming ballistic missiles. 

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General  Glen VanHerk, head of NORAD, warned a conference where he was speaking recently that the Chinese missile would “provide significant challenges to my NORAD capability to provide threat warning and attack assessment.” Those familiar with the Chinese missile said that, theoretically, it could pose a grave challenge for the US as American defense systems are focused on a potential threat from the north and this missile could instead fly across the South People before striking the US. The test comes at a time when China also is building up its conventional forces and threatening Taiwan with multiple, large military incursions into its air space and territorial waters. At home it has over 200 ballistic missile silos under construction President Xi Jinping is intent on creating a superpower capable of controlling much of the free world.

In an interview in the Financial Times this week, US Representative Michael Gallagher said that the Chinese test should “serve as a call to action.” He noted that “Even more disturbing is the fact that American technology has contributed to the PLA’s hypersonic missile program.” This test flight was number 78 for China. At some point in the not-to-distant future China may decide to activate its troops, ships, planes, and nuclear-capable hypersonic missiles. China may have an emperor, but it is Washington who believes in invisible clothing! It is time we stop acting delusional and learn from history. Gaps in understanding create opportunities for learning. This may be the West’s last chance.

DARIA NOVAK served in the United States State Department during the Reagan Administration, and currently is on the Board of the American Analysis of News and Media Inc., which publishes usagovpolicy.com and the New York Analysis of Policy and Government.  Each Friday, she presents key updates on China.

Illustration: Pixabay

Although China is the principal threat to US national security, Russian political and military antagonism cannot be ignored. On Thursday, the Heritage Foundation released it 2022 Index of US Military Strength. Russia remains high on the list of formidable threats to the United States and Western Europe. According to Alexis Mrachek, a research associate on Russia and Eurasia at the Heritage Foundation, “From the Arctic to the Baltics, Ukraine, and the South Caucasus, and increasingly in the Mediterranean, Russia continues to foment instability in Europe. Despite economic problems, Russia continues to prioritize the rebuilding of its military and funding for its military operations abroad.” Moscow is not retreating. It continues to make efforts to destabilize the NATO alliance and undermine US institutions which it views as threatening to Russia’s national security.

According to the Index, last year Russia spent $61.7 billion on its military and remains in the top five nations in terms of defense spending. What is, perhaps, most significant is how Russia is spending its military budget, which totals 4% of the country’s GDP. Over the last few years President Putin has prioritized modernization of Russia’s nuclear capabilities, as well as completing general upgrades to all branches of its military. Earlier this year Maxim Starchak, of the Jamestown Foundation, wrote that in 2020 Russia completed deployment of 20 launchers armed with Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) as well as 2 UR-100N UTTH launchers with the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle. Although upgrades have been slowed by Covid restrictions and some management and technical issues, Starchak says they have “had relatively little impact on the overall growth of advanced weapons in the nuclear triad.” 

Data in the Index, from an International Institute for Strategic Studies report, states that among the key weapons in Russia’s inventory are 336 intercontinental ballistic missiles, 2,840 main battle tanks, 5,220 armored infantry fighting vehicles, more than 6,100 armored personnel carriers, and more than 4,684 pieces of artillery. Russia’s navy currently has one aircraft carrier and 49 submarines, including 11 equipped with ballistic missiles. Russia also has plans to build 10 more Borei-A–class ballistic submarines. It is a considerable force. Currently, the US has 68 submarines (14 ballistic missile, 50 attack, and 4 cruise-missile). Two submarines must be built each year to maintain the size of the US fleet. The Congressional Budget Office, which evaluates the cost of shipbuilding as part of the DOD budget wrote that “The Navy’s annual shipbuilding plan would cost more than double what has been appropriated over the past 30 years and 24 percent more than annual appropriations during the Cold War. In the 2040s, funding for submarines alone would exceed average overall funding from 1992 to 2021.” While the US must convince Congress to fund it programs, in Russia Putin has an easier time prioritizing military modernization over domestic social welfare programs to meet his goal of restoring  the glory of the Russian empire. 

Mrachek points out that “Russia possesses the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons (including short-range nuclear weapons) among the nuclear powers. It is one of the few nations with the capability to destroy many targets in the US homeland and in US-allied nations as well as the capability to threaten and prevent free access to the commons by other nations.” At this time Russia remains the only state capable of threatening the US homeland with both conventional and nuclear weapons, although China successfully tested an advanced hypersonic glide ballistic missile this year. Russia’s aggressive bellicose behavior, coupled with rising nationalism and its enhanced full range of military capabilities, makes it a formidable adversary should Russia decide to engage with the US. Russia, partnering with China, present a real and present danger to the national security of the United States.

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The Russian air force has 1,160 combat-capable aircraft, compared to 3,318 operated by the United States and 280,000 soldiers backed up by two million in its total reserve force.  From 2010 to 2019, Russia spent approximately 40% of its total military spending on arms procurement. According to Hans M. Kristensen and Matt Korda, writing in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists this spring, Putin is “…81 percent of the way through a modernization program to replace all Soviet-era missiles with newer types by the early 2020s on a less-than one-for-one basis.” 

DARIA NOVAK served in the United States State Department during the Reagan Administration, and currently is on the Board of the American Analysis of News and Media Inc., which publishes usagovpolicy.com and the New York Analysis of Policy and Government.  Each Thursday, she presents key updates on Russia.

Photo: Russian Sukhoi 35

The vigorous exchange of ideas is a great strength of free nations.  Even the most heated debate can frequently produce the best of solutions, so long as all sides are honest in their presentation of their facts and goals.

That honesty does not exist in the Progressive’s presentation of their arguments, neither in the facts they rely on or in the goals they allege to seek. The criticism that would normally meet such dishonesty has been intentionally obscured by a biased media that shares the thinly veiled goal of “Fundamentally transforming” America from a society based on individual rights to one governed by an all-powerful central government based on Marxist principles.

Consider the concepts the Left has pushed:  

Alleging that preventing voter fraud is actually voter suppression.

Asking generations that have not indulged in slavery or segregation to pay reparations to people who have not been the victims of slavery or segregation.

Claiming that America engages in systemic racism despite the reality that there is not a single law, rule, regulation or accepted practice that condones racism.

Maintaining that socialism, which has failed miserably everyplace it has been tried, is preferable to America’s capitalist system which has brought more prosperity to more people than anything else in history.

Claiming that letting dangerous criminals go free on little or no bail, emptying out jails on various excuses, handcuffing the police by either defunding or intimidating them with lawsuits, and allowing criminal cartels practically free access to cross the southern border is not responsible for dramatic increases in crime.

Complaining that adequatelyprotecting the nation from foreign threats is a waste of money.

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Despite the clear irrationality of these positions, Progressives have made startling gains.

A recent Rasmussen Poll  reports that only 50% of American Adults think the United States is a nation with liberty and justice for all. Thirty-eight percent (38%) disagree, while 11% are not sure.

These absurd concepts would not have gained traction in earlier periods. It is important to understand why they are now succeeding. The descent into disproven economic practices and historically inaccurate views of the United States are the direct result of two key factors: the takeover of public education by radicalized hard-left personnel, and Progressive control of popular entertainment.

An AMAC review found that “America’s schools are being infiltrated by the radical left. Every generation since 1928 has gotten steadily more liberal, with each generation being more liberal than the previous. This is a direct result of left-wing indoctrination in America’s schools, and it is not a coincidence… According to a 2018 Gallup poll, just 45% of millennials view capitalism positively. To the contrary, 51% of millennials view socialism positively. This means that young Americans largely support socialism over capitalism. These views conflict with the views of every single other generation of Americans. Just 28% of the Silent Generation, 30% of Baby Boomers, and 41% of Generation X view socialism positively.”

 NBC Today  notes that “If you got to a movie theater right now, there’s a pretty good chance that the film you see will have been partially financed in China.” Correspondent Ronan Farrow outlined how that influences the scripts of the movies Americans watch.”

Politico provides another example of the interrelationship between Chinese companies buying major stakes in Hollywood and Beijing’s political goals. Dalian Wanda is a Chinese firm that has intimate ties to the Chinese Communist Party, and it is intent on making major purchases of Hollywood assets.

Much of the influence Progressives have gained in the 21^st Century is owed to the support they have received from China.

Last September, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Warned about China’s “influence operations” in colleges, think tanks and even local governments.

Illustration: Pixabay

America’s very future is at serious risk, not just from enemies abroad, but also from dedicated internal forces that seek to replace Constitutional government with an authoritarian, anti-western culture regime.

Parents send their children to school to gain an education.  Most hard working, dedicated teachers want to provide that. Unfortunately, a substantial portion of educational bureaucrats and progressive faculty leaders have a wholly different agenda.

Replacing the basics has been a strident push by Progressives, as they shove propaganda down the throats of students. The drive originated in universities, but now infects every level, from kindergarten to post graduates.

The extraordinary alteration has replaced, in too many cases,  academia’s correct mission to educate,  with the force-feeding of leftist propaganda.  An example was recently observed in Oregon.   As Fox News reports,

“Gov. Kate Brown, the Oregon Democrat, signed a bill last month with little fanfare that drops the requirement that high school students prove proficiency in reading, writing or math before graduation.”

On the opposite coast, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has sought to ban honor rolls. “As The Post’s Selim Algar reports, a new DOE guidance warns that ‘recognizing student excellence via honor rolls and class rank can be detrimental to learners who find it more difficult to reach academic success.’ Even grades can negatively influence ‘future student performance.’ Instead, DOE’s geniuses want to emphasize ‘contributions to the school or wider community, and demonstrations of social justice and integrity.’ Staff should ‘eliminate practices that penalize students who have been marginalized based on their race, culture, language and/or ability.’” 

What has replaced authentic education is an aggressive combination of leftist ideology and extremist anti-main stream cultural concepts.

The Biden Administration’s advocacy of Critical Race Theory and the 1619 project has been a part of the push to cram demonstrably false and inaccurate historical views down the nations’ throat.

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Examples of the bizarre nature of the warping of education are numerous. A Daily Mail article exposed the actions  of one teacher who  had her high school English students pledge allegiance to a gay pride flag.

The OC Register writes that “…the powerful California Teachers Association… continues to push an aggressive and fundamentally reactionary approach to education… nothing has been more illustrative of the political agenda of our educational establishment than the recent draft curriculum for an ‘ethnic studies’ course for the state’s schools. Although this curriculum has created a firestorm of opposition and is unlikely to be adopted as is, the fact is the curriculum reflected a far-left agenda that is deeply entrenched in the educational establishment… The scariest thing about the ethnic studies curriculum may not be its ultimate content but how it reflects an ideology that advocates indoctrination of youngsters who often don’t even have the most basic understanding of sociology or history. Often incapable of meeting basic grade-level English language and mathematics standards, these students would be forced to learn academic jargon like misogynoir, cisheteropatriarchy and hxrstory.”

The assault on history and common sense is not confined to schools. It has affected museums and related institutions as well. Astoundingly, as reported by one source, The National Archives  placed a “harmful content” warning across its entire catalog website and the warning appears when users search for anything, including founding documents like the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.

Most parents were blissfully unaware of how far schools had drifted from their mission. That started to change dramatically when COVID forced classes to switch to remote learning. Astounded by what they discovered, they began to react. School Board meetings quickly became battlefields when outraged moms and dads confronted those responsible.

Parental reaction was not confined to mere protests. Many have begun to abandon public schools altogether. The U.S. Census reports that “The U.S. Census Bureau’s experimental Household Pulse Survey, the first data source to offer both a national and state-level look at the impact of COVID-19 on homeschooling rates, shows a substantial increase from last spring — when the pandemic took hold — to the start of the 2020-2021 school year. Using a large, nationally representative sample of U.S. households, the survey shows homeschooling is notably higher than the national benchmarks and offers a glimpse of changes in homeschooling patterns during the pandemic.”

The trend is destined to expand until academia returns to providing honest and unbiased education.

Picture: Pixabay

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has established a pattern of unprecedented human rights abuses since it gained control. Its actions have resulted in the deaths of over 40 million innocent people, as well as the illegal absorption of whole national cultures.

Amnesty International has outlined the CCP’s oppression:

 “China continued its unrelenting persecution of human rights defenders (HRDs) and activists. Throughout the year, they were systematically subjected to harassment, intimidation, enforced disappearance and arbitrary and incommunicado detention, as well as lengthy terms of imprisonment. The absence of an independent judiciary and effective fair trial guarantees compounded such recurrent violations. Many human rights lawyers were denied their right to freedom of movement, as well as to meet and represent defendants and have access to case materials. HRDs and activists were targeted and charged with broadly defined and vaguely worded offences such as “subverting state power”, “inciting subversion of state power” and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”.

The most prominent current instance of the CCP’s offenses involve the Uyghurs.  Human rights groups reveal that Beijing is forcibly sterilizing women, imposing forced labor, raping, torturing and killing individuals, and refusing Muslim Uyghurs the right to practice their religion.

The CCP’s deprivations have not been limited to its own borders and neighboring lands, as evidenced by the planet’s bout with COVID-19, a product of China’s Wuhan laboratory.

Beijing has exerted its considerable political and financial clout to not only limit discussion of the Uyghur holocaust, but to actually repress the Uyghur people beyond China’s borders.

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The Uyghur Human Rights Project  has issued a report that illustrates how “Since 1997, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has engaged in an unprecedented scale of transnational repression that has reached 28 countries worldwide. … Our data finds instances of at least 28 countries across the world complicit in China’s harassment and intimidation of Uyghurs… The dataset contains 1,151 cases of Uyghurs being detained in their host country and 395 cases of Uyghurs being deported, extradited, or rendered back to China.”

“China’s transnational repression of Uyghurs has been consistently on the rise and has accelerated dramatically with the onset of its system of mass surveillance in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) from 2017, showing a correlation between repression at home and abroad. In the first stage of China’s evolving system of transnational repression, from 1997 to 2007, a total of 89 Uyghurs from 9 countries, mostly in South and Central Asia, were detained or sent to China. In the second phase (2008–2013), 130 individuals from 15 countries were repressed. In the ongoing third phase (2014 to the end of our data collection in March 2021), a total of 1,327 individuals were detained or rendered from 20 countries. Unreported cases would likely raise these figures substantially, with our database presenting just the tip of the iceberg due to our reliance on publicly reported instances of repression.

“International organizations and host governments, particularly those with close political and economic ties to the PRC, can often be complicit in China’s use of transnational repression against Uyghurs, many of whom have sought refuge abroad. China’s transnational repression exists as part of a wider trend of global authoritarianism that threatens to erode democratic norms worldwide.”

Despite all this, major western influence centers continue to defend the CCP and obfuscate its deadly impact on the world, thanks to a successful Beijing policy of buying the loyalty of politicians and corporate leaders. Examples abound. Nike chief executive John Donahoe stated that his brand “is of China and for China.” Hollywood routinely censors their movies and television shows in order to not “offend” the CCP. President Joe Biden’s family has significant financial ties to that nation, as do a number of other elected officials.

Illustration: Pixabay

Iran Continues to Hold U.S. Citizen

Today marks six years that Iran has wrongfully detained Siamak Namazi, a U.S. citizen who has committed no crime and has been held by the Iranian government for the better part of a decade.

In 2016, Siamak’s father, Baquer, traveled to Iran to help free his son.  In retaliation, the Iranian government arrested Baquer as well.  The Iranian government sentenced both father and son to ten years in prison.  Now 84 years old, without any charge pending against him, and in dire need of medical attention, Baquer remains held by the Iranian government, which refuses to allow him to depart Iran. 

Secretary of State Blinken notes that   The Iranian government continues to subject the entire Namazi family to unimaginable abuse.  Through it all, the Namazis have shown remarkable courage. 

The United States is committed to securing Siamak and Baquer’s freedom as soon as possible, as well as that of the other U.S. citizens wrongfully detained in Iran.

U.S. Elected to U.N. Human Rights Council

The United States has been elected to serve on the UN Human Rights Council for the next term, beginning in 2022.

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In a statement, Secretary of State Blinken promised “We will work hard to ensure the Council upholds its highest aspirations and better supports those fighting against injustice and tyranny around the world.  The path towards the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms will be filled with challenges.  The United States commits to continue this steadfast pursuit, at every opportunity, with any and all countries that will join us.”

The Council is supposed to play a meaningful role in protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms by documenting atrocities in order to hold wrongdoers accountable.  It has not always fulfilled that obligation due to occasional poor selection of member-states to serve.

It focuses attention on emergencies and unfolding human rights crises, ensuring that those who are voiceless have a place to be heard.  The Council provides a forum where we can have open discussions about ways we and our partners can improve.  At the same time, it also suffers from serious flaws, including disproportionate attention on Israel and the membership of several states with egregious human rights records.  Together, we must push back against attempts to subvert the ideals upon which the Human Rights Council was founded, including that each person is endowed with human rights and that states are obliged to protect those rights.

U.N Committee on Torture

 Todd Buchwald has been elected to serve as an independent expert on the UN Committee Against Torture for the 2022-2025 term.  Advancing human rights and rule of law through multilateral re-engagement is a top priority for the United States, and in our pursuit of those ideals at home and around the world, we were proud to nominate Professor Buchwald.  The Committee Against Torture is an important UN platform for addressing torture and is charged with the critical work of monitoring 171 States parties’ compliance with their treaty obligations under the Convention Against Torture.  The United States takes seriously its obligations as a State Party to this treaty and submitted its sixth periodic report to the Committee on September 24.

Professor Buchwald is a distinguished scholar, lecturer, and professor of international law who previously served as the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice with a focus on justice and accountability for atrocities.  This followed an acclaimed legal career with over 30 years in government and private practice, including as Assistant Legal Adviser of the State Department with a focus on United Nations affairs and as an Attorney in the Office of White House Counsel.  

Liberal Harvard University is moving its language school, currently located in Beijing, to Taiwan after Chinese university officials said it can no longer host the whole program in a time of deteriorating Sino-American relations.

Chinese People’s Liberation Air Force (PLAF) aircraft this month continue to threaten the integrity of Taiwan’s airspace while the People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) sends more naval vessels into Taiwan’s territorial waters. Last week, in response to recent increased Chinese aggression, the CIA announced the creation of a mission exclusively dedicated to addressing the “global challenges” posed by communist China, with Director William Burns emphasizing that the “threat from China is coming from the government.” 

China’s litany of transgressions is almost endless… 

A lengthy report issued in October by the French Ministry of Defense’s Institute for Strategic Studies of the Military Academy (IRSEM), confirms that Huawei has a close relationship with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and that the CCP is using state-owned and private companies like Huawei to collect vast amounts of data globally. The abuse is so extensive that Huawei’s Czech Republic branch told Czech Public Radio that the Huawei branch was “secretly collecting personal data of customers, officials, and business partners, including the number of children, preferences, and financial status, among other things, to enter into the corporation’s database.” Closer to Beijing, India and China are expected to spend yet another winter with armed troops high in a Himalayan standoff between the two nuclear giants. At the same time Taiwan is under constant intrusions by Chinese military aircraft and ships. These are only a few select examples of the numerous cases of China’s most recent aggressive behavior outside its own borders. 

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While the Biden White House’s words do not match up with its lack of real punitory action toward China, the CIA is determined to change the game board. It recently referred to the Chinese government as a “key rival,” saying that the new mission center it is opening is the result of a series of strategic reviews launched by Burns earlier this year that concentrated on “China, technology, people, and partnerships,” among other areas. This may be an indication that, finally, someone in Washington is acting on the threat posed by the out-of-control communist giant. The question political and military analysts are asking this week is — are we too late to effectively counter Chinese global aggression and are Washington’s actions strong enough to send a message that will be heard by President Xi Jinping and those in the political elite in Beijing?

As the United States moves toward winter and the Christmas buying season, questions also abound concerning the security of the China-linked US supply chain. Fears are not only centered on toys that are expected to be in short supply, but also on critical items needed to support the health and welfare of the general American public. Already shelves are emptying in many states and the US Postal Service is warning that packages may not make it in time for the upcoming holiday. Decoupling trade with China will take years. In the interim, the US is effectively being held hostage to China’s whims as the White House fails to show any real leadership on the China challenge. 

Taiwanese Minister of Defense, Chiu Kuo-cheng, in an address to Taiwan’s legislature on Wednesday said that by 2025, China will have the capability to mount a full-scale invasion of the island. The United States is committed under the Taiwan Relations Act to “help maintain peace, security, and stability in the Western Pacific and to promote the foreign policy of the United States by authorizing the continuation of commercial, cultural, and other relations between the people of the United States and the people on Taiwan.” This is inclusive of selling Taiwan defensive weapons to help maintain the peace, security, and stability in the Western Pacific. Analysts in Washington are asking whether the Biden White House is up to task. With so many challenges emanating simultaneously from China, it is high time Washington re-examine how it is handling US-China relations before a crisis erupts that send the US into an armed conflict. Although White House official assure that it has no intent to go to war, these increasingly aggressive moves by China increase the risk that an inadvertent “accident” between Beijing and Washington could draw the two nations into a downward death spiral from which neither could extract itself.

DARIA NOVAK served in the United States State Department during the Reagan Administration, and currently is on the Board of the American Analysis of News and Media Inc., which publishes usagovpolicy.com and the New York Analysis of Policy and Government.  Each Friday, she presents key updates on China.