<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The United States will no longer treat Communist China based on the long-held belief that it will one day become more like the West, announced Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a speech at the Nixon Library in Southern California on Thursday. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“The old paradigm of blind engagement with China has failed. We must not continue it. We must not return to it,” said Pompeo. “As President Trump has made very clear, we need a strategy that protects the American economy and indeed our way of life. The free world must triumph over this new tyranny.&#8221;</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Referring to President Nixon’s reopening of relations with China 1972, he said: </span><span class="s1">“We imagined engagement with China would produce a future bright with the promise of comity and cooperation&#8230;But today we sit wearing masks and watching the pandemic’s body count rise because the CCP failed in its promises to the world.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">US policy will respond not to what Chinese leaders say, but what they do, continued Pompeo. President Reagan once said that he dealt with the Soviet Union on the basis of “distrust and verify,” and we will follow that policy with the CCP.</span></p>
<p>During the speech, Pompeo <span class="s1">encouraged other countries to “induce China to change” and urged the Chinese people to rally against their oppressive government, describing them as </span><span class="s1">“dynamic and freedom-loving people who are completely distinct from the Chinese Party.&#8221;</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Critics say the speech threatens to increase anger towards the United States in China and boost support for President Xi Jinping, but there is no longer a valid reason to pursue an optimistic approach to China. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Not only did China release a deadly virus into the world, but it is waging a war of religious persecution at home, attempting to crush Hong Kong, making aggressive moves in the South China Sea, and operating a massive spy campaign in the United States. Earlier this week, the Trump administration closed the Chinese consulate in Houston after diplomats were caught burning documents and using fake IDs at a nearby airport. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“The truth is that our policies &#8211; and those of other free nations &#8211; resurrected China’s failing economy, only to see Beijing bite the international hands that fed it,” continued Pompeo. “If we don&#8217;t act now, ultimately, the CCP will erode our freedoms and subvert the rules-based order free societies have built. If we bend the knee now, our children’s children may be at the mercy of the CCP, whose actions are the primary challenge to the free world.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><strong>Author&#8217;s Note:</strong> Trump is taking the China threat seriously unlike his opponent, Joe Biden, who said in May 2019: </span><span class="s1">“China is going to eat our lunch? Come on, man…they’re not bad folks, folks. But guess what: they’re not competition for us.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></p>
<p><strong>Editor&#8217;s Note: </strong> China is our biggest threat and will continue to be for probably the next century. Unfortunately, they have made great gains over the past 40 years, without our considering their actions. Fortunately, Trump is attempting to shut down their nefarious activities in the U.S.</p>
<p>FYI, our only other major threat is the infiltration of radical Islam into the rest of the world. The Russians and Iran (as a country) are way down in the threat range from my point of view.</p>