Dakota Beacon

Christmas ‘tis the season for giving! What better way to say “I love you” than with the gift of a book? The only prerequisite for the recipient is that they possess an intellect imbued with curiosity.

Of course, readers do not share the same taste in books. The following suggestions come from my own library and are meant to be edifying and not inconsequential.

The subject is China. Interest in China skyrocketed since President Trump broke the globalist mold and engaged China on trade and military issues. What should peak even greater interest, if the major media would cover it, involves China’s placement of spies in a never-ending intelligence gathering effort.

Congressman Eric Swalwell’s recently unveiled sexual involvement with Chinese Communist spy Christine Fang continued from 2011 to 2015. This was a political intelligence operation run by the main civilian Chinese Communist spy agency. Fang was known to have cultivated other American political contacts for future use. Swalwell serves on the House Intelligence Committee.

Senator Diane Feinstein’s personal driver for twenty years was identified as a Chinese Communist spy. She ignored the information. Feinstein serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Pete Buttigieg, former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, may be Biden’s choice for ambassador to China. He has neither background nor language skills for the job. If appointed, he will be a patsy in Chinese Communist hands.

Finally, president-elect Joe Biden has been potentially compromised through China dealings. His son, Hunter Biden, is under active FBI investigation as to whether he and his associates violated tax and money laundering laws in business dealings with China. The Chinese government has thorough knowledge of illicit influence peddling activity on Hunter while his father, Joe, covers for him. Why? Emails indicate Joe Biden proposed to take equity in a Chinese company secretly through a 10 percent stake held on his behalf by Hunter. Documents relating to Hunter Biden’s exploitation of his father’s name to enrich himself and other family members through deals with China were among the cache taken from Hunter’s laptop and published the week before the election by The New York Post. Twitter and Facebook censored the revelations and major media outlets did not report them.

To understand how China intends to eclipse the United States economically and militarily as a world power, consider three books as gifts to others or yourself. Of the three books, Michael Pillsbury’s book “The Hundred-Year Marathon: China’s Secret Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower” (2016) seems most insightful. He documents “Marathon” copiously with sixty-nine pages of footnotes. References include an eye-opening amount of declassified information. It is clear from Pillsbury’s account that China is not a capitalist wannabe intent on a peaceful rise in the community of nations. China’s ambition to surpass the US is hiding in plain sight and they will use any tactic to succeed.

Gordon G. Chang, in “The Coming Collapse of China” (2001), presents a different take on China. The world sees a glorious future for this sleeping giant predicting it will blossom into the world's biggest economy. Chang (a Chinese-American lawyer and China specialist) sees the People's Republic as a paper dragon. Beneath the veneer he sees the symptoms of decay. Deflation rules the economy. State-owned enterprises are failing. Banks are insolvent. Foreign investment continues to decline. Communist corruption unravels society. Chang claims that reforms have left China stuck between communism and capitalism. World economic competition continues to place stress on their economy. Ultimately, economic failure will lead to government collapse.

In “Un-Restricted Warfare” (1999) (translated from the original People’s Liberation Army documents), military strategists Colonel Qiao Liang and Colonel Wang Xiangsui are not talking about bullets, bombs, and bayonets. The traditional mentality that offensive action is limited to military action is no longer adequate given the range of contemporary threats and the rising costs in both dollars and lives lost in traditional warfare. Instead, the colonels see the significance of alternatives to direct military confrontation. These include international policy, economic warfare, attacks on digital infrastructure and networks, and terrorism. Even a relatively insignificant state can incapacitate a far more powerful enemy by applying pressure to their economic and political systems.

As an afterthought, and for historical and contextual effect, add a fourth book to your gift list. “The Black Book of Communism” (1999) offers a fuller understanding of what an ascending Red China means to the world. Published by Harvard University Press, the book was written by several knowledgeable contributors.

Suspicious of outside interference in America’s 2020 election? Red China stands out as the number one culprit. Cluster bombs of disinformation were eagerly and ignorantly spread through social media and a gullible American press.

For the book lover, a lifetime of learning never ceases. Leave the formal “continuing education” classes to others. Pursuit of a self-directed reading program beyond the classroom amplifies a love of learning which the four walls of a classroom may only stifle.

Give the right book as an appropriate gift to others or yourself this Christmas.

Dennis M. Patrick can be contacted at (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).