Sometimes gangs fight against each other, sometimes they work together to fight somebody else. That the Chinese Communist Party is backing and cooperating with Iran is evidence of “just how interlinked the threats to American national security are,” argues Michael Lucchese (“To Deal with the Iran Threat, America Must Address China’s Role in the Middle East,” National Review, May 1, 2024).
In the aftermath of the failed Iranian attack on Israel, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi rushed to defend Tehran’s aggression. In doublespeak worthy of George Orwell’s 1984, he described the wave of missiles and drones as an act of “self-defense,” and even claimed it would “spare the region further turmoil.” Wang’s comments may have been absurd, but they nonetheless reveal much about Beijing’s position on the growing conflict in the Middle East.
Although it claims to take a “friend of all” approach to the region, the Chinese Communist Party is in fact one of the Islamic Republic’s greatest supporters. As early as 2020, the two regimes signed a formal economic and security pact to increase cooperation. The CCP provides the ayatollahs diplomatic cover for their bald-faced aggression and an economic lifeline in the midst of their international isolation. In addition, the two countries participate in joint military exercises and share intelligence with each other….
The CCP is using the Iranian regime’s hegemonic ambitions to gain a foothold in the Middle East, which would give it major advantages in the broader global competition with the United States.
But “the Biden administration has done far too little to combat the ties to Iran that are vital to the CCP’s regional strategy,” declining for example to enforce sanctions on Chinese organizations that buy oil from Iran for fear of “destabilizing” U.S.-China relations, a fear that China exploits.
Is American foreign policy so haphazard, shortsighted, and/or cowardly that, as one NRO reader suggests, the United States is not even playing checkers “in the global game of CCP chess”? To play the “game,” one must first recognize the necessity. As Lucchese puts it, American leaders must “wake up and realize the total danger we face.” Some persons in our government do, but too few.
Also see:
StopTheChinazis.org: “China Is Stoking a New Cold War With the West”
“Pick any terrorist group, rogue regime, or horrific conflict in the world today and you’ll likely find that China is behind it.”
StopTheChinazis.org: Columns on PRC influence, threats, and aggression by James Roth
University donations, “negotiating with” next-door countries, wolf-warrior diplomacy and non-diplomacy, espionage, space, the moon, the South China Sea, weapons.
StopTheChinazis.org: “On Courage: Our Ultimate Weapon Against the Chinese Communist Party”
