And If We Do Learn To Speak Chinese, Who Will Listen? by Doug Wrenn

And If We Do Learn To Speak Chinese, Who Will Listen?

By Doug Wrenn

February 02, 2008

An oppressive government is more to be feared than a tiger."

(Confucius)

In his column, "Good Reasons To Learn Chinese," in the January 27th edition of The Sunday Republican, Chris Lin extols the erroneously perceived virtues of communist China, while also partaking in the trendy pastime of taking a few sucker shots at the United States.

Lin, a native-born American of Chinese descent, pontificates that more of our school children should be educated in the Chinese language, as is the practice in his local school district. Among his reasons, he cites the predictions of unnamed prophets who state that China will be the next super power in the "global economy," and that the US will supposedly lose its super-power status in 20 years.

He praises China for her "active political-outreach campaign to make allies and secure scare resources."

He admonishes that to be "friends" with China, we should "build relationships based on trust, cooperation and respect." He does not view China as "the next Cold War enemy," and encourages us to do less competing and more cooperating with China, in the coming "new world order."

Lastly, Lin sanctimoniously advises that we must stop being "ethnocentric," in consideration that China is "the largest and most important player."

Lin's poorly veiled poison pill, camouflaged as wholesome global unity has been played on us before by other snake-oil-salesmen on China's behalf, most of whom occupy the Capitol and the White House, or who engage in related lobbying efforts on Washington's K Street, or who conduct multi-national corporate financial business on New York's Wall Street. China is no better symbolized by a teddy bear than it is a panda bear.

Sadly, China is gradually becoming the next superpower, and maybe the US will lose super power status in 20 years, but if these prognostications do come to full fruition, we are partially at fault.

The US currently has an approximate $200 billion trade deficit with China, which China has been opportunistically and zealously using for the past 15 or so years to continually double up her military forces to eventually take us on. In return for granting China Permanent Normal Trade Relations and Most Favored Nation Status, the US has been rewarded by a less than grateful China since the 1990's with trade piracy, dumping of cheap goods, the inflation of her Yuan, the devaluation of our dollar, theft of intellectual property, unfair trade practices, infiltration and stealth control of the Panama Canal, missiles aimed at our country, a verbal threat to nuke Los Angeles, the downing of an EP 3 plane, the sabotage of one of our satellites, espionage from the Los Alamos nuclear laboratory, the infiltration of a presidential election, agricultural contamination leading to world health concerns, the stealth following of one of our aircraft carriers, and tainted children's toys with lead, just to name a few items off the top of the short list. And despite all these abuses, we still continuously and foolishly give Chinese officials guided tours of our schools, universities, scientific research laboratories and even military installations, and for what? "Trust, cooperation and respect?" We've tried that idea, Mr. Lin, hence our current dilemma with an arrogant, defiant and ever menacing China, and a seemingly paper tiger US, with both political parties secured in China's pocket, and the distracted, if not apathetic American electorate, more obsessed and consumed with keeping apprised of more weighty matters, such as sports, "American Idol," the errant behavior of dysfunctional celebrities. If the US had been even just half as strong and consistent with China as we have been with Cuba, we would not currently be under the shadow of impending peril that we helped create with our coin toss, weathervane mode of foreign policy, as so often illustrated by our convoluted, on the fence doubletalk regarding our commitment to the protection of Taiwan.

Even if the predictions of super-power status, as cited by Mr. Lin are true, he shouldn't be quite so openly accepting, if not giddy at that prospect. No country has voluntarily and generously fed, clothed, cured and defended more suffering people across the globe than the US. Given China's history and current communist regime, Mr. Lin best hope and pray that he is wrong, unless part of his fantasy-like perception and vision of China actually includes her equaling, if not surpassing the US in charitable benevolence for the world.

I would highly recommend that Mr. Lin edify himself a bit more about his beloved China, starting with any of several informative published articles and books by Washington Times reporter, Bill Gertz, or the late Dr. Constantine Menges, a former special assistant to the President on National Security Affairs, a former senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, and a former CIA intelligence officer.

The communist Chinese are very much continuing their own version of the Cold War. Little has changed since Tiananman Square. Forced abortions, torture, imprisonment, executions and brutal persecution against Christians and political dissidents are still very much the routine in China. China sadly has an indelibly soiled history rich in genocide. Mao supposedly killed more millions of people than Hitler and Stalin. China's "active political outreach campaign to make allies and secure access to scarce resources," has often times been with some of the most diabolical governments on the globe, and to thwart the US while fueling herself for the time in which China feels she is ready for battle, if she does not instigate our demise by economic means first. The Chinese have a long-term plan for the US, and one integral component of that plan is patience. We blindly keep pulling on the long rope China feeds us, without any recognition or concern for the noose on the end. The kind of naïve Tomfoolery, pandered to us by Mr. Lin and our own various inept, corrupt and cowardly government officials, lobbyists and financial gurus is the reason for the current state of affairs. China is the quintessential schoolyard bully that continues to dine on our lunch money, while we still graciously thank her for not hitting us yet.

China, contrary to several popular euphemisms, is not a friend, not a strategic ally or partner, and not even a (legitimate) trading partner. She is a country governed by a carnivorous communist regime, itself teetering on volatile instability because of divisive infighting between political and military factions. The Chinese people, who may very well be the decent, people Mr. Lin portrays them to be, still are either unable or unwilling to rein in their own oppressive government, so any ludicrous, utopian discussion of cozying up to one of the world's most dangerous and conniving predators is fruitless, as previous and current such efforts have, and continue to confirm, apparently to no avail to some observers, such as Mr. Lin and various public and private sector entities.

Mr. Lin would be well advised to stop trying to deceive himself and others that sovereignty is a bad idea. We can and should engage in free, but above all, fair trade. Lin's claim of US ethnocentricity is grossly morphed by his euphoric and condescending rhetoric of the "new world order," globalist speak for promoting more regional government unions, such as the current European Union, and the oncoming North American Union, that will strip the US of it sovereignty, security, prosperity, and dilute our Constitution, usurp our courts and infringe upon all of our basic and cherished liberties as citizens of a once strong, sovereign, free republic, and in general, cavalierly overturn all that our brilliant forefathers created, all our brave patriots bled and died for, and all we, as Americans, supposedly stand for.

We should not accept what only appears to be inevitable. What man breaks, man can fix. The American people need to transform our government at the grassroots level. How many of our current presidential candidates have even mentioned our currently abysmal and corrosive relations with China, and how often? How many of these candidates have mentioned the North American Union, and how often? The need for more unified infusion of grassroots civic activism is almost as dire now in Washington as it is in Beijing.

Despite all his accusations of the United states, and all his sung praises for China, I couldn't help but note that Mr. Lin said he resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan and not Beijing, China. Maybe the US isn't quite so bad after all.

Our government officials, both Democrat and Republican alike, should listen a little more to the American people (or at least, those of us who are paying attention), and a lot less to their globalist, anti-American cronies in the United Nations and at that other globalist elite bastion, the Council on Foreign Relations. We don't need a "new world order." Given a little elbow grease and the proper repairs, the old one will continue to work just fine, as it already has well served us for well over 200 years.

As for American school children, all things being equal, they should learn to speak Chinese when Mr. Lin's beloved China learns to respect human rights of her own people and the national sovereignty of her "global" neighbors. Only then, can we all thrive, and all enjoy real "order."

Doug Wrenn