By A. Freeman
The United States of America was founded on a deep understanding of the nature of man, on high moral values, and on a respect for both higher powers and for individual liberty while restricting government power.
In contrast, the communist practice denies the existence of higher powers, extends state power while sacrificing individual rights and even lives; promotes class struggle, and trains people to give up their souls and their consciences so they can be obedient to the “Great, Glorious, and Correct” communist party.
The communists are devoted to weakening the U.S. and eventually imposing their ideology over all of America. The U.S. is facing a great danger: the loss of morality from within and the infiltration of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from outside. Unfortunately, many people have not realized it. As the country is gradually being infiltrated with communist ideology, sadly, “Chinafornia” and other places where the CCP has a substantial influence are emerging, taking shape, and getting stronger.
I. What Makes America Such a Great Country?
Since the CCP’s goal is to weaken the United States, since a movement is afoot to “Make America Great Again,” and since many people in this country do not understand either their roots or what made America great in the first place, let’s first review some of our founding principles,
A. America’s Founding Changed the Nature of Government
“At the time of America’s founding, the rest of the world was ruled by monarchs. The founders established the first country in human history that was built not only on blood and soil, but on an idea — the idea of human liberty.” Even as recently as 1938, “on the eve of World War II, there were just 17 democracies” in the world. That the United States achieved victory in World War II and that we triumphed over Soviet tyranny in the Cold War is because of who we are and what we stand for.
“Every country that enjoys democratic governance today owes it birth of freedom to our Founding Fathers . . . Without them, the world would be mired in the darkness of totalitarianism rather than the light of liberty.” {1}
B. How Did This New Birth of Freedom Come About?
The United States came about as the result of a revolution that resulted in the promulgation of its Founding Principles to ensure the freedom and guarantee the rights of the governed. When the Founding Fathers of the United States of America gathered together at the Constitutional Convention to consider the form of government they would create to best ensure the freedom of the governed, they had a wealth of previous Western thought to draw upon, including Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Locke, and a host of others. Their conclusions led them to create a government lauded the world over for its theoretical underpinnings. They drew on John Locke, who, in his Two Treatises of Government, argued for natural rights, that all men were by nature free and equal, that legitimate government came into existence through a social contract, that political power required consent, and that government should be constitutionally limited to protect the fundamental rights of life, liberty, and property.
They drew on Montesquieu, who, in On the Spirit of Laws articulated the theory of the separation of powers, dividing the government into three branches, the executive, legislative, and judicial. They drew on Jean-Jacques Rousseau who observed in The Social Contract, Book I, “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains. Since “Might can produce no Right, the only foundation left for legitimate authority is Agreement.” If it is in the “common interest that society must be governed,” then the sovereign represents the general will of the people.
The founders addressed many issues of political import in their thoughts, their communications with each other, and in their own writings.
Among the prevailing themes, they had a deep understanding of the importance of morality. George Washington, for example, observed, “Human rights can only be assured among a virtuous people. The general government … can never be in danger of degenerating into a monarchy, an oligarchy, an aristocracy, or any despotic or oppressive form so long as there is any virtue in the body of the people.”
Benjamin Franklin’s statement, “Laws without morals are in vain,” became the motto of the University of Pennsylvania.
On July 4, 1776, the founders adopted the Declaration of Independence, which stated,
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Not only do the Americans who study the founders “praise the competence, wisdom, and motivations of those who served in the federal convention of 1787, but they declared that the formation and adoption of [the] new system of federal government represented a political achievement unprecedented in history. They looked on it, moreover, as an event that was actually ‘influenced, guided, and governed’ by the hand of God.” {2}
The founders had a deep belief that America was established on a divine foundation. At that time, religion in general, and Christianity in particular, had a profound influence on the thoughts of the people in Europe and America. The view was that the laws of God existed prior to, outside of, and above the laws of the state. Consistently, through all of their writings, were references to God, to virtue, and to morality.
The Declaration of Independence referred to Divinity four times:
“… the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them…”
“… endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights”
“… appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, …”
“… with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”
The following values that were put forth are understood to apply to all people, all of the time:
- Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of association
- That Legitimacy is derived from the consent of the governed
- An enduring moral character assures opportunities for all in their pursuit of abundance and in nurturing the broad-mindedness and generosity that is uniquely American
- America is a beacon for allies and friends of freedom the world over
On August 21, 1789, the newly formed House of Representatives adopted the first ten amendments to the Constitution, now called the Bill of Rights, guaranteeing freedom of religion, speech, the press, assembly, and petitioning the government for redress of grievances.
Democracy, freedom, spirituality, and human rights are often referred to as universal values. Universal values and man’s rights and freedoms emanated from the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.” Jefferson asked in his Notes on the State of Virginia, “Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God?” If endowed by the Creator, then they could not be an arbitrary gift of government.
C. On the Issue of Slavery
Those who wish to weaken the United States sometimes use the existence of slavery at the time of its founding as a means to demean and even attack its founding principles.
The “Father of the Constitution,” James Madison, attacked slavery early in the Convention, stating, “We have seen the mere distinction of colour made in the most enlightened period of time, a ground of the most oppressive dominion ever exercised by man over man.” {3}
The founders were firmly committed to immediately halting the spread of slavery and eventually eradicating the institution altogether. Several Founders launched critiques of the slave trade for violating natural rights. In a draft of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson attacked the slave trade in harsh language, calling it a “cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people.” However, some slave-holding delegations threatened to walk out of the Constitutional Convention if slavery was threatened. The Founders knew what we aspired to be, but the country wasn’t there yet. Therefore, the framers purposefully avoided the mention of slavery in the Constitution. {4}
About 90 years later, after the Civil War, America fixed the slavery issue. Alexis de Tocqueville said admiringly of America, “The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.” His words still ring true almost 200 years later. {5}
II. The Communists’ Guidelines for Weakening the United States
On Jan. 10, 1963, Congressman Albert S. Herlong Jr. of Florida read a list of 45 Communist goals into the Congressional Record. {6} The list was derived from researcher Cleon Skousen’s book “The Naked Communist.” {7}
It is a guideline to ruin and attack the U.S. from within. A number of the items are quite alarming, or have even succeeded. We are looking at them now with an emphasis on the following 10 guidelines in particular:
15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the U.S. (Note: In his book, “Reagan’s War,” Peter Schweizer demonstrates the astonishing degree to which communists and communist sympathizers have penetrated the Democratic Party. In his book, Schweizer writes about the presidential election of 1979.) (Note, on February 8, 2019, The Epoch Times reported on the extent to which the CPUSA had infiltrated the Democratic Party. {8}
17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for Socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers associations. Put the party line in textbooks.
20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book review assignments, editorial writing, and policy-making positions.
21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV and motion pictures.
22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all form of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to “eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings,” substituting shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms.
24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them “censorship” and a violation of free speech and free press.
26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as “normal, natural and healthy.” (Note: Today those few who still have the courage to advocate public morality are denounced and viciously attacked. Most Americans are entirely unwitting regarding the motives behind this agenda.)
27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social” religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity, which does not need a “religious crutch.” (Note: This has been largely accomplished through the communist infiltration of the National Council of Churches, Conservative and Reform Judaism, and the Catholic seminaries.)
28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the grounds that it violates the principle of “separation of church and state.”
40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce. (Note: Done! The sovereign family is the single most powerful obstacle to authoritarian control.)
III. How the CCP Uses United Front Work in Its Seeping Infiltration
While some communist adherents worked on ruining the U.S. from within, the CCP has been working on infiltrating the U.S. from outside.
A. The Communist Party’s United Front Work – Its “Magic Weapon”
Man’s understanding of right and wrong, of good and evil, and of the existence of an afterlife directly affects his participation in the human world. In the Free World, man can decide what to believe based on input readily available to him. While all major governments interact with other governments openly and respectfully, the CCP deploys covert techniques that often lack virtue.
Three interrelated factors make the Communist government’s approach unique. “First is the nature of the CCP,” which Chinascope has explored in depth. {9} “Second is its holistic approach which melds together the legal and the covert, persuasion, inducement, enticement, and coercion.” Third is the aim not just to direct and control behavior but to see that adherents don’t simply comply with its wishes but that they do so on their own without being told.” {10}
On June 27, 2018, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) reported on how individual Chinese must interact overseas, “China’s cyber security preferences are impacted by its own National Intelligence Laws. These national laws require that: ‘All organizations and citizens shall, in accordance with the law, support, cooperate with, and collaborate in national intelligence work, and guard the secrecy of national intelligence work they are aware of. The state will protect individuals and organizations that support, cooperate with, and collaborate in national intelligence work.’” {11}
The work that individuals and businesses do overseas to support China is called United Front Work. It is one of the three magic weapons that Mao Zedong called for in winning the civil war in 1949. The United Front Work Department directs such work. “It has long been a key, albeit well concealed, element of the CCP’s foreign policy.” {12}
In other words, the CCP assumes that the primary loyalty of Chinese overseas is to participate in democratic elections, be candidates, donors, and voters in order to advance China’s national interests abroad and to take the initiative to do so wholeheartedly and of their own free will. They should help achieve the political objectives of the “China Dream of National Rejuvenation” in relation to the South China Sea, Taiwan, and the Belt and Road Initiative. A common scene is the CCP’s interference in the electoral politics, where the CCP, via its agents, makes donations in return for favors such as, for example, gaining the appointment of someone who is pro-Beijing. Plausible deniability is assured because such acts are considered state secrets, the betrayal of which is an offence punishable by a lengthy jail sentences or possibly execution in China. {13}
The United Front Work is so important to the communist party that Beijing even offers a Master’s Degree in United Front studies. {14}
B. Methods the CCP Uses
Many of the methods the CCP uses are detailed in a recent Macrobusiness report.
- Mobilization of the ethnic Chinese diaspora
- Tasking ethnic Chinese students in foreign countries to suppress anti-Beijing views
- Sponsorship of pro-regime “educational” institutions in universities to foster pro-Chinese worldviews
- Substantial financial and other assistance to individuals and institutions that are prepared to support China’s interests
- Leveraging trade and investment dependencies to coerce partners
- Recruitment of business leaders who have strong economic interests in China
- Applying Chinese law within the United States and other countries
- Penetration of Western research and other institutions to access cutting-edge technologies
- Espionage operations against Western and partner countries
- Geo-strategic maneuvers to extend Beijing’s influence over new areas
- Extensive use of para-military and military forces to persuade, intimidate, and confront foreign forces in selected areas and forcibly to seize, occupy, and militarize strategically important locations. {15}
Louisa Lim, an award-winning journalist who has reported from China for a decade, and Dr. Gerry Groot of the University of Adelaide, who specializes in the United Front Work Department (UFWD), provide further information in “Inside China’s secretive United Front” {16}
“United Front Work is the responsibility of every Chinese Communist Party member and especially every Chinese Communist Party member who has an official position,” says Groot. “They are supposed to make friends and influence those friends to take on the official positions of the Communist Party.
“This charm offensive is achieved by a variety of methods, including cooperation, cooption, coercion and by making the price of collaboration irresistible, thus slowly absorbing the party’s enemies into its ranks. When it comes to entrepreneurs, the carrots dangled include sought-after positions in government advisory bodies like the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Congress (CPPCC), which imply insider access, if not actual power. The success of this strategy can be seen from a single statistic: the CPPCC now contains 59 US dollar billionaires, whose combined net worth is double the GDP of Ireland.
“In recent years, United Front Work has turned its focus outward, harnessing Chinese living overseas – particularly businessmen, community leaders and students – to project communist party influence abroad. One tried-and-tested formula is the use of community associations, either setting up new bodies or usurping existing ones to serve party ends.” {17}
C. Using Associations
Associations, either established in China or formed in other countries but bought by the CCP, can be a propaganda tool to be quoted in the language of the country’s media or in Chinese, creating the impression of support for Beijing’s position from that country and thus bolstering the CCP’s legitimacy.
They can further be used to press for policy changes regarding China through submissions to committees or by lobbying. Many of them hide or deny their connection to China.
They can also be the base from which the CCP extends its tentacles to other targeted individuals, groups, or organizations.
They often use a popular sounding name to disguise their true nature. According to Gerry Groot, in Australia, “Lots of foreigners in particular think they’re dealing with a government-related entity or a civil society entity, when they’re dealing with a very complex entity which is controlled, directed, administered, and surveyed constantly by the Communist Party United Front Work Department.” {18}
“The CCP exerts an astonishing amount of control over the lives of those born and raised in China. In the wake of unprecedented economic development it is now facing the challenge of large-scale migration of increasingly affluent Chinese citizens, who through overseas study or work have acquired a home away from home. Of the many ways in which the Party has adapted, the growing strength of the United Front Work Department is of particular interest to those measuring CCP influence abroad. …” {19}
IV. Chinafornia
California used to be the Golden state and people wanted to move in. However, in recent years, the state has suffered from budgetary deficits, the spread of drugs, crime, homelessness, the decline of respect for law and order, and natural disasters such as wide fires, and the recent earthquakes.
This article does not intend to offer a thorough analysis on the causes, but one factor is the communist influence. That influence comes in two ways: internally, the adoption of the excessive socialists ideology (Marx has claimed that the socialism is the first stage of the communism) and externally, the CCP’s “United Front” work.
The CCP’s “United Front” work is carried out not only by its state engine but also by the Chinese diaspora in California, to the extent to which the CCP is able to influence, mobilize, and use them, even when they may not realize the extent to which they are used.
According to the 2010 census, the Chinese American population in the United States numbered approximately 3.8 million. The states with the largest estimated Chinese American populations were California (1,253,100; 3.4 percent and New York (577,000; 3.0 percent).
San Francisco, California had the highest per capita concentration of Chinese Americans of any major city in the United States, at an estimated 21.4 percent, or 172,181 people, and contained the second-largest total number of Chinese Americans of any U.S. city. New York City has the largest number of Chinese Americans at 486,463, but only 6 percent of the total population.
The 2016 Community Survey of the U.S. Census estimates the population of Chinese Americans to be 5,081,682. As of 2017, Americans of Chinese descent, including those with partial Chinese ancestry constituted 1.5 percent of the total U.S. population.
Of the ten cities with the largest Chinese American populations, five are in California. {20}
It would be natural for Chinese Americans to want to develop their political influence and have a say in the future of their city, their state, and their country, but with China’s United Front “magic weapon” at work, which country’s political influence do they promote?
The CCP Politburo member and former Minister of Foreign Affairs Yang Jiechi made a speech calling for the government to expand and strengthen “overseas Chinese patriotic friendly forces” in the service of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and “ensure they identify their interests with China’s interest.” {21}
The further requirement that “All organizations and citizens shall, in accordance with the law, support, cooperate with, and collaborate in national intelligence work, and guard the secrecy of national intelligence work they are aware of” adds an ineluctable imperative to support the CCP. {22}
For people living in California, some may support the CCP with full intention out of their love of the party or their love of the money or benefits that the party offers them. Many other Chinese may help the CCP out unintentionally, due to the CCP’s appealing to them about their Chinese heritage and the “motherland.”
A. China’s Increasing Connections with California Officials
The Disobedient Media reported that several officials in California seemed to have close ties to Beijing. {23}
“As China’s economy has grown over the past several decades, so too have donations and support for political figures in California.” Ed Mah Lee, a member of the Democratic Party, was San Francisco’s 43rd mayor and had “a history of financial support from Chinese interests, as well as the open endorsement of public figures in the city who had established ties to the Communist Party of China (CCP). … Lee also enjoyed long-time support from the recently-deceased San Francisco figure Rose Pak. Pak served as an executive director of the China Overseas Exchange Association, a foreign affairs group under the direction of China’s state Council Overseas Chinese Affairs Office. … San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly directly accused Pak of improperly acting as an agent of the Chinese government. … On September 28, 2016, a video that China Daily posted to Twitter (0:20-0:24) shows Lee placing his right hand over his heart during China’s national anthem.
“Lee is not the only Bay Area politician with a connection to China. Disobedient Media has reported that the mayors of Oakland and Berkeley have ties to groups and individuals who have been the subject of FBI investigations for their ties to the CCP.”
“The Los Angeles Business Journal has highlighted a dramatic increase in Chinese investment in the film industry as well as LA real estate. China is Los Angeles’ largest trading partner, with $164.38 billion in trade to the city in 2013. Mayor Eric Garcetti welcomed this increase in investment. He has endeavored to court Chinese businesses since his election in 2013. In 2014 and 2016, Garcetti led trade delegations from the United States to China. … Garcetti also met with Wang Jianlin, chairman of Dalian Wanda Group. Disobedient Media previously reported on Jianlin’s drive to buy up Hollywood media groups …”
“China has also begun to exert increasing influence over Californian Chinese organized crime groups, using Hong Kong based Triads who are allied with the Beijing’s government. … On February 27th, 2006, in San Francisco, a masked assailant murdered Chinese American Allen Leung.” Leung was the head of an organization that was “traditionally supportive of Taiwan’s Kuomintang government.”
Chinese money has directly targeted California politicians. Similarly, the shift in Californian Chinese organized crime from groups aligned with Taiwan to Triad organizations operating with the blessing of the Chinese government raises concerns about Beijing’s plans for the West Coast. California is increasingly taking steps to act autonomously from the Federal government. {24}
On April 9, 2013, “Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. met with China’s Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng and signed a landmark agreement with the Ministry of Commerce to bolster economic ties and cooperation between California and China. They signed a Memorandum of Understanding. … The agreement, the first-of-its-kind between a subnational entity and the Ministry of Commerce, establishes a joint working group that includes California, the Ministry of Commerce and leaders from six provinces.”
As the United States learned later, the MOU, which is detailed in the article, did indeed make California “a very valued partner for China.” {25}
On May 3, 2018, Xinhua News Agency, China’s official press, reported: “U.S. Governor of California Jerry Brown called for more cooperation with China on Thursday, saying that the two countries have great potential as trade partners. … The governor said that China and the United States should work together to promote the global economy despite rising tensions due to the trade dispute between the two countries recently. . . . ‘A trade war is stupid,’ (Brown) added.” {26}
B. Helping China in Xinjiang or elsewhere.
The chief investment officer (CIO) of the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) the largest public retirement fund in the United States is Yu “Ben” Meng. Yu has deep ties with the Chinese government. CalPERS manages more than $350 billion for public employees either retired from or currently working for most of the state and local public agencies in California. As recently as 2015, Yu participated in the Chinese government’s prestigious headhunting program called the Thousand Talents Plan (TTP). According to an FBI report, those China has recruited are experts or scholars in prestigious universities or research institutes, senior managerial professionals in internationally known financial institutions, or entrepreneurs holding IP rights. The FBI reports that the TTP “[poses] a serious threat to U.S. businesses and universities through economic espionage and theft of IP.” {27}
The BBC also reported that two of major retirement funds The New York State Teachers Retirement System (NYSTRS) and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) have invested in Hikvision. CALSTRS recorded its stake in Hikvision at 4,356,300 shares, with a market value of $24,414,000 as of 30 June, 2018.
On his website, Florida Republican Marco Rubio shares a letter to two of President Donald Trump’s cabinet members urging the administration to impose sanctions on individuals and entities “profiting” from detentions in the Xinjiang region. Rubio mentions Hikvision. Human rights groups say Hikvision supplies surveillance systems to the facilities in Xinjiang, which China calls “training centres.”
$350 billion from CalPERS and $24 million from CalSTRS can go a long way to help the CCP reach its goals, whether in Xinjiang or elsewhere. {28}
C. The Issue of Diane Feinstein
An example of China’s enticement was reported on August 8, 2018, in an article in The Federalist titled, “Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s Ties To China Go Way Deeper Than An Alleged Office Spy: Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s warm relationship with and advocacy for Communist China go back decades and involve millions, if not billions of dollars.”
Some key points from this article are cited below {29}:
- “Chinese intelligence once recruited a staff member at a California office of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, and the source reported back to China about local politics.”
- “Feinstein … employed this individual for almost 20 years in a close capacity, while he represented the senator in interactions with Chinese officials.”
- Shortly after the U.S. opened U.S.-Chinese diplomatic relations in 1979. “Feinstein led a mayoral delegation to China joined by her husband, investor Richard Blum, a trip they took together many times over the ensuing years as the relationship between both Feinsteins and China grew.”
- “In 1986, Feinstein and Jiang (Zemin, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1989 to 2002) designated several corporate entities for fostering commercial relations, one named Shanghai Pacific Partners. Feinstein’s husband served as a director. … Subsequently Blum’s investments in the Middle Kingdom mushroomed.”
- “In May 1993, Feinstein expressed her strong support on the Senate floor for continued trading with China. Contemporaneously, her husband was seeking to raise up to $150 million from investors, including himself, for a variety of Chinese enterprises.”
- “In May 1996, she penned an editorial in the Los Angeles Times calling for the United States to grant most-favored-nation trading status to China ‘on a permanent basis.’”
- “In May 2000, Feinstein lobbied for making permanent normal trading relations with China, a measure that ultimately passed, and helped pave the way for its entrance into the World Trade Organization, which Feinstein also supported.”
- “Feinstein’s economic positions frequently downplayed the PRC’s rampant human rights violations. The senator . . . often urging appeasement of the Chinese regime in both apologism for such abuses and urging restraint.”
- “Feinstein also argued against tying China’s most-favored-nation trading status to human rights improvements.”
- “Feinstein also challenged the Obama administration’s $6.4 billion arms sale to Taiwan, calling it a ‘substantial irritant’ to U.S.-China relations.”
The article went on to suggest that Feinstein’s dealings with China should be investigated.
Daniel Turner, Executive Director of Power The Future, asked: “Is it not worthy of the media’s time to question who drafts her policy statement: staffers concerned for her constituents in California or Beijing?”
He also raised questions about Feinstein’s husband’s business: “One could be suspicious of the $25 billion deal the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation struck with the senator’s husband’s real estate company during the housing crash of 2009. It raises an eyebrow that as chair of the Military Appropriations Subcommittee, Feinstein approved millions in contracts benefiting her husband’s firm. One may question how Blum acquired a lucrative $108 million contract to sell post offices in California.” {30}
According to Politico, Rose Pak, who died in September 2016, was mentioned previously as another person of interest. For decades she was “one of San Francisco’s preeminent political power brokers. Though she never held elective office, she was famous for making and unmaking mayors, city councilmen (or ‘supervisors,’ as they’re known in San Francisco), and pushing city contracts to her allies and constituents in Chinatown.” “According to four former intelligence officials, there were widespread concerns that Chinese intelligence had coopted Pak and that she was wielding influence over San Francisco politics in ways purposefully beneficial to the Chinese Government. Another worry, U.S. officials said, was Pak’s role in organizing numerous junkets to China, sometimes led by Pak in person and attended (often multiple times) by many prominent Bay area politicians including former San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, who died while in office in 2017.” {31}
A show of power by the CCP was the 2008 Olympic Torch Run in San Francisco. The torch relay around the world met protests for the CCP’s suppression of democracy and human rights “San Francisco was the only U.S. city to host the Olympic torch as it made its way, tortuously, to Beijing. . . . Most brazenly, said former intelligence agents, Chinese officials bussed in 6,000-8,000 J-Visa holding students from across California ─ threatening them with the loss of Chinese government funding ─ to disrupt Falun Gong, Tibetan, Uighur and pro-democracy protesters. . . . ‘I’m not sure they would have pulled out these stops in any other city, but San Francisco is special’ to China, said a former senior U.S. official.” {32}
Let us look in depth at some events in the current decade to see how the CCP has been using its power to turn California into Chinafornia.
D. The Year 2000 – Chinese Consulate to City of Santee: No Proclamation for Falun Gong; They Create Disturbances, Hallucinate, Jump into Rivers or off Buildings
In the year 2000, current California Assemblyman Randy Voepel was elected Mayor of the City of Santee and sworn in on December 5, 2000. Santee was asked to issue a proclamation on behalf of Falun Gong and Voepel agreed to the request. The CCP heard about it. On December 27, Lan Lijun, the Consul General of the People’s Republic of China wrote a letter to Voepel to discuss “a matter which is of great importance and grave concern to the Chinese Government and its relations with the United States.”
The letter went on to describe the “illegal” activities of Falun Gong: “advocating superstition and spreading fallacies, hoodwinking people, inciting and creating disturbances, and jeopardizing social stability, thus being deemed an illegal cult organization.” “Many … appeared to be disorganized: some became paranoid,” “suffering from hallucinations,” “jumped into rivers or off buildings,” “even cruelly injured or killed their relatives and friends.” “I am sending you some materials which I hope will help you know more about this Falun Gong cult organization.”
As opposed to believing Lan Lijun, Mayor Voepel wrote a two-page letter in reply: “Your letter personally chilled me to my bones. I was shocked that a Communist Nation would go to this amount of trouble to suppress what is routinely accepted in this country. What you consider to be of great threat to the People’s Republic of China is a political ‘walk in the park’ in the United States. I … must be honest in my concern for the suppression of human rights by your government as evidenced by your request. … P.S. I will have a favorable Mayor’s proclamation for the Falun Gong out as soon as possible.” {33}
Shortly thereafter, Doug Curley of KUSI-TV news reported, tongue in cheek, about the city of Santee getting ready to defend itself from an attack by the People’s Liberation Army. {34}
E. 2016- The Chinese Chamber of Commerce Says “No” to the Divine Land Marching Band
In each and every case, since 2005, when the Divine Land Marching Band, which consists of a number of Falun Gong practitioners, submitted an application to participate in a San Francisco area parade, it was denied participation. On April 17, 2016, The Divine Land Marching Band’s application to participate in the Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival Grand Parade (MCCBFGP), sponsored by Sakura Matsuri, Inc. was accepted. At least, that is what they thought.
On the day of the parade, when everyone was lined up and ready to start the parade, Mr. Richard Hashimoto, the President of the event sponsor, picked up a megaphone and yelled at the band through the megaphone, saying the band was not allowed to participate in the parade.
“Mr. Hashimoto admitted to one of the members of the marching band that the Chinese Chamber of Commerce told him that Falun Gong is a ‘troublemaker’ and that is why his organization refused to allow Falun Gong to participate in the events that led to the case mentioned below.” {35}
On April 11, 2017, a band member filed a case with the San Francisco Human Rights Commission (SFHRC), alleging discrimination: Case Name: Rui Wang v. Sakura Matsuri Inc. (Docket Number: FY17-12C-030).
Chinascope sent a letter of inquiry to the SFHRC asking about the status of the case. As of the date of this publication, October 16, 2018, more than one and one-half years later, the SFHRC has not responded to the band members or to Chinascope.
F. June 10, 2017 – Bill OK’d Communists to Work for the California Government
Andrea Seastrand, a former Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, wrote an article about California Assembly Bill 22, which allowed communists to work in the state government. According to her article, Assembly Bill 22 “actually received enough votes from Democratic legislators to pass. It shows how out of touch and liberal California’s Legislature has become.” Disobedient Media also reported on the legislation: “In May 2017, a bill sponsored by Assemblyman Rob Bonta sought to remove a Cold War era ban on state employees who were members of the Communist Party.” {36}
By that time Randy Voepel was an Assemblyman. He had served two tours in Vietnam with the Navy during the war. Seastrand quoted him in her article.
“There are 1.9 million veterans in California, many of us fought the communists,” said Voepel, “They are still a threat. We have North Korea that wants to do us in. We have China who is a great, great threat to the United States. They are communist regimes. In China the Falun Gong have been rounded up and put in prisons. There are giant labor camps where there is organ harvesting. There are bullets that are charged off to the families of those executed. You get a bill for 20 yuan to pay for the bullet that killed one of your family members. We have great communist threats in the world.
“And I’m not speaking from bitterness because I’m a Vietnam veteran. I came to peace with that years ago. In fact, Vietnam’s a pretty neat place. But just last week we had many Vietnamese people here who were kicked out of their country. They came here for the freedom. So, Assembly members, I ask for a no vote on this issue. The whole concept of opening up communism and Communist Party members to working for the state of California is against everything we stand for on this floor.”
Assemblyman Travis Allen, from Huntington Beach, also objected:
“You take a look at the number of people that communism has killed in the 20th century alone, it’s over 90 million. Communism stands for everything that the United States stands against. We’re for freedom, we are for justice, we’re for democracy, we are for the rule of law. And communism is none of these things. To allow subversives and avowed communists to now work for the state of California is a direct insult to the people of California who paid for that government.”
Seastrand reported that, after receiving complaints, Assemblyman Rob Bonta, who introduced the bill, withdrew it. Her final comment in the article was, “It was a wrong idea. Thankfully, the bill is dead. We can only hope and pray that someday we can say the same about communism.”
{37}
G. June 17, 2017 – The CSSA Objected to the Dalai Lama’s Commencement Address at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD)
As a well-known China reporter John Pomphret wrote, “(O)ut of the almost 1 million foreign students attending U.S. universities this fall (2017), almost one in three will be Chinese. This marks a fivefold increase over the 2004–2005 academic year, when there were 62,523 Chinese students stateside.” At first Academics were imbued with the same viewpoint that inspired the contents of James Mann’s well-known book, the China Fantasy. A true win-win relationship would develop. According to one quote, “it would guarantee America’s ‘intellectual and spiritual domination of {China’s} leaders.” Over time, however, American schools became enamored with Chinese cash. September enrollment at the University of Illinois broke 3,000 {for example}. It is now known as the University of China at Illinois. As an aside, reports indicate that President Trump’s aids, “led by anti-immigration crusader Stephen Miller are reportedly pushing for a blanket ban,” although there is no indication of how seriously the president took the advice. Many schools across the country rely heavily on money from China.
Pomphret pointed out that this wave of Chinese applicants across the country triggered a “tsunami of fraud,” since agents are paid a bounty for each student they bring in. “The result? In this year’s entering class, there will be thousands of Chinese students who lack the education, the language ability, and the critical facilities necessary to benefit from an American education. That’s because many of them were given a slot at a U.S. university almost solely based on their parents’ ability to pay.” “These students end up hanging out with their compatriots, never making an American friend, and returning home with no appreciation of American civil society, its freedoms of association, speech, and religion, or its democracy. In fact, many I have spoken with can be openly hostile to Western values.” {38}
The Communist government closely scrutinizes the behavior of Chinese students wherever they are in the world. The Chinese Students and Scholars Association’s (CSSA’s) political work “runs directly counter to the ideals of a Western education and represents a worrying trend of China attempting to export its system of thought control onto America’s shores. Chinese not prepared for an American education naturally gravitate toward the CSSA. ‘It offers us a place to go when we’re homesick.’ ‘That makes it easier for them to ‘wash our brains.’” {39}
Party cells have even been set up as part of a strategy “to extend direct party control globally and to insulate students and scholars abroad from the influence of ‘harmful ideology.’ sometimes by asking members to report on each other’s behaviors and beliefs.” “‘If you actively protest against [the party], of if you make some comments, you know that they could harm you later on.’ … ‘It’s a way of controlling what you are willing to do.’” {407}
In 2007, in a specific demonstration of power, when a CSSA organization at Columbia protested against a human rights speaker, a threatening email was sent to the Columbia group’s website, stating, “Anyone who offends China will be executed no matter how far away they are,” {41}
How did this affect the Dalai Lama’s invitation to speak at UCSD where 14 percent of the students were from China?
UCSD announced on February 2, 2017, that the Dalai Lama would appear at the UCSD commencement ceremony, following a public address delivered on campus on Friday, June 16 to an estimated audience of 25,000.
Chinese students came to the U.S. to study and had access to information that was no longer censored as it was in China. They still spent their time reading the Chinese social media that the CCP actually controls. To them, the Dalai Lama was not someone who promotes peace and world harmony; rather, he was someone who wants to split China and was part of China’s feudal past, as the CCP had long been telling them.
While these students lacked the capacity to appreciate the values of the free world, they did not hesitate to use the freedom of expression that the U.S. Constitution affords to express and promulgate the communist party’s viewpoint.
Just hours after the announcement, the CSSA at UCSD announced that it had communicated with the Chinese Consulate about it. The students announced on WeChat in Chinese: “Currently, the various actions undertaken by the university have contravened the spirit of respect, tolerance, equality, and earnestness –─ the ethos upon which the university is built. These actions have also dampened the academic enthusiasm of Chinese students and scholars. If the university insists on acting unilaterally and inviting the Dalai Lama to give a speech at the graduation ceremony, our association vows to take further measures to firmly resist the university’s unreasonable behavior.” {42}
UCSD’s Chinese Students and Scholars Association said in a statement after the invitation to the Dalai Lama was announced, “The Dalai Lama is not only a religious personality but also a political exile who has long been carrying out actions to divide the motherland and to destroy national unity.” {43}
Apparently in the minds of those students, respect means the Free World should show a deep consideration for communism rather than vice versa.
The University defended the values of the Free World and didn’t yield under the pressure. The Dalai Lama still spoke at UCSD.
On September 12, 2018, Inside Higher Education discussed a report that “describes alleged retaliation against the University of California, San Diego, after it invited the Dalai Lama to give a commencement speech in 2017. The report cites unnamed faculty members who say they heard from their colleagues at Chinese partner institutions that universities were ordered by a government entity ─– believed to be the Ministry of Education ─– not to collaborate with UCSD. Among other alleged retaliatory actions, a faculty member told Lloyd-Damnjanovic that the ministry blocked funding of a joint research center operated by the University of California’s 10 campuses and Fudan University. UCSD’s media relations office did not comment on the report.” {44}
A September article in the UCSD student newspaper, The Triton, announced, “China will no longer fund travel for visiting scholars at UC San Diego, according to a memo apparently written by government officials that circulated among Chinese academics. The move, according to UCSD School of Global Policy and Strategy Professor Victor Shih, is likely in retaliation against UCSD for inviting the Dalai Lama to serve as the 2016–17 commencement speaker last spring.”
“China took such an action in 2010, eight months after the University of Calgary conferred an honorary degree upon the Dalai Lama. The university was removed from China’s list of accredited universities, throwing many Chinese alumni and students’ post-graduation plans and financial stability into jeopardy. The Canadian institution regained its accreditation in April 2011.”
“‘The Chinese Communist Party has always used political, economic, and diplomatic means to threaten free society,’ says Frank Tian Xie, a professor of business at the University of South Carolina Aiken, told The Triton in an interview conducted in Chinese. ‘This decision proved that all its academic exchange programs and scholarships are a facade serving a political purpose. If these programs are for academic purposes, they shouldn’t be influenced by politics.’” {45}
Students have actively espoused communist values in other areas as well. At Durham University in the U.K., Chinese students notified the local embassy about the appearance of Chinese-Canadian human rights activist Anastasia Lin, who was Miss Canada and is also a Falun Gong practitioner. The local Chinese embassy requested she be disinvited.
In Australia, an article found that “there have been cases of Chinese students reporting back to the Chinese Embassy on fellow students that have not followed Beijing rhetoric.” {46}
In another instance, CSSA students tore down posters about the Tiananmen Square massacre. A directive that the Ministry of Education had handed down in January emphasized the importance of “patriotic education” in ensuring that all university students – even those studying overseas – “always follow the party.” {47}
H. July 2017 – Chinatown Business Improvement District (BID) Executive Director Used His Authority to Make Sure U.S. Citizens Could not Exercise their First Amendment Rights at a National Park
Nick Janicki applied for a permit with the California State Parks Department for a 501C3, the Foundation for Traditional Culture, to perform a benefit concert at the Los Angeles State Historic Park in Chinatown in Los Angeles. Larry Fulmer, of Special Events for the CA State Park, Los Angeles Sector, informed him on January 17, 2017, that the date of July 29, 2017, was “locked in.”
Sean Woods, Superintendent of the Los Angeles Sector of California State Parks, informed Mr. Jenicky that “a meeting with the Chinatown BID is a mandatory step in our special event permitting process.” At the State Park’s request, Janicki met with George Yu, president of the Chinatown BID.
Janicki agreed to a number of Yu’s requests. He took down the following videos from the organization’s website, including those on Tibetan freedom, slave labor, and environmental destruction. When Yu told him emphatically that if Falun Gong had any presence at the event, then “our conversation was over and we needed to take the event elsewhere.” He drew the line.
Yu also requested that artists performing at the event refrain from saying anything that could be construed as negative towards the Chinese or China.
George Yu sent Janicki a letter on May 16, 2017, saying, “Please be advised that the Chinatown BID is unable to support the Festival.”
As the result, the Park District pulled the permit. According Janicki, “It’s very concerning that Chinatown can be given authority over what United States citizens can or can’t do and what First Amendment rights they can exercise in a public place in a National Park.” {48}
I. 2008 – The First Time a California Resolution on Human Rights Failed ─ One Hundred Asked: Stop the Oppression in Tibet. Three from the Chinese Consul Didn’t Like it, So It Failed
In 2008, San Francisco Supervisor Chris Daly sponsored a resolution that contained language condemning the Chinese government’s willful campaign to oppress the people of Tibet.
“‘We’ve been bullied. We’ve been butchered. I am 82 years old. Please help us!’ The old woman wept bitterly and begged for mercy for the people of her homeland. She is a Tibetan-American who had come to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors with 200 others to support a simple resolution calling for mercy for the people of Tibet.”
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom had appointed Carmen Chu as Supervisor of District 4. In that capacity Chu, refused to support the resolution and District 7 Supervisor Sean Elsbernd went along with her. Daly’s resolution contained language condemning the Chinese government’s willful campaign to oppress the people of Tibet. “Around a hundred people spoke and only 3 of them opposed Daly’s resolution. They were all men from the Chinese Consul. . . . they called the peaceful Buddhist Tibetans ‘animals.’” The 2008 resolution failed. {49}
J. July 2017 – The Second Time, a California Resolution on Human Rights (SJR10) Shelved Because the Chinese Consulate Didn’t Like it
Courthouse News Service has detailed coverage of the issue where the California State Senate decided to shelve a bill criticizing China’s human rights violations because of pressure from the Chinese Consulate. {50} Because its contents are so relevant, we quote the main parts of the article here:
“In July, state Sen. Joel Anderson, R-Santee, introduced a resolution calling on President Donald Trump and Congress to investigate the suspected human rights abuses by the Chinese government against members of the religious group Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa. The measure moved swiftly through the Senate Judiciary Committee with a unanimous vote.
“Lawmakers then whittled down the initial resolution – five pages of forceful rhetoric against the actions of China – to a single, factual page. But just before the resolution was to be read on the floor, Senate Pro Tem Kevin De Leon, D-Los Angeles, moved the measure to the Senate Rules Committee without a vote or discussion and then shelved it.
“De Leon’s decision may have been due to an unsigned letter sent by China’s consulate general in San Francisco, calling Falun Gong an ‘evil cult.’ The letter was received the day before De Leon moved the bill. Neither De Leon’s office nor the Chinese consulate returned requests for comment.
“‘These are not people that are strapping bombs on themselves and blowing themselves up trying to kill others,’ Anderson said. ‘These are people who are focused on meditation through their faith. They have a harmless faith.’
“In 2007, Anderson got a resolution passed recognizing Falun Gong and the liberty of the United States to allow freedom of religious expression. The Chinese consulate sent him a letter accusing him of being a terrorist, and banned him from traveling to China.
“Falun Gong is a spiritual practice that utilizes qigong, measured movements and a focus on breathing and meditation to promote health and wellness. Falun Gong differs from traditional qigong in that there is no membership fee, no specified ritual and a greater emphasis on morality.
“Congress passed a resolution in 2016 with bipartisan support and drastically more forceful language than Anderson’s recently shelved effort. Minnesota lawmakers passed their own version this week.
“‘Here in California, we talk about California values,’ Anderson said. ‘If we can’t stand up for those who simply want to meditate and become better people, if we can’t step up for religious liberty and freedom, not just here but around the world, we have failed those values.’
“Disturbing reports of torture and forced harvesting of organs have led many nations to ban citizens from traveling to China for medical procedures. China denies that any Falun Gong practitioners have been killed and says those who have died did so because they refused to take medicine or accept medical aid.
“The United Nations and the World Health Organization both disagree and have condemned the actions of the Chinese government.
“A report authored by former Canadian Secretary of State David Kilgour and human rights lawyer David Matas found that ‘the source of 41,500 transplants for the six-year period 2000 to 2005 is unexplained’ and concluded that ‘the government of China and its agencies in numerous parts of the country, in particular hospitals but also detention centers and ‘people’s courts,’ since 1999 have put to death a large but unknown number of Falun Gong prisoners of conscience.’ {51}
“Wait times for organ transplants in China average about two weeks compared to 32 weeks in Canada, despite its smaller voluntary organ donor list.
“‘I think the question has to be asked why does China have such a grip on your throat that they can bully California Democrat leadership that says that they are for the downtrodden, those being picked on around the world, but when it comes to these people they aren’t willing to stand up against their slaughter,’ Anderson said.
“‘We are going to challenge them to see if they want to harvest our organs,’ Anderson said. ‘I am not standing down. There will be no peace until there is justice.’”
The communist party has used many of the means described herein to destroy our values and has successfully lured people to succumb to its values. People seem to have forgotten the meaning of the following words, but they warranted man’s thoughts when written and they warrant our introspection today: (KJ version) Mark 8:36 “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
V. Bringing Back California
California has become Chinafornia. Can it become California again?
We close this section with a letter that reminds us who we once were.
Dr. Shizhong Chen, the President of the Conscience Foundation wrote to California State Assemblyman Randy Voepel on September 12, 2017:
Dear Honorable Assemblyman Voepel,
My name is Shizhong Chen and I am a Falun Gong practitioner. I am writing to you to share with you how righteous officials like you may protect their constituents in ways that we may not be aware of.
In 2001 I appeared and spoke at the Santee City Council. Perhaps my statement is still in the city’s record, but I quote it here for your convenience:
“Dear Mayor Voepel and Honorable Council members:
I come to thank you for your proclamation for Falun Gong, a proclamation made in spite of the Chinese government’s pressure; but more importantly, I come to celebrate the American spirit.
In 1839, the ship ‘Amistad’ carried itself fatefully to the United States and touched off a historical legal battle that went up to the Supreme Court. Risking their contemporary national interest, i.e. the alliance with mighty Spain, Americans chose to defend a few strangers. It was this part of the American history that led me to embrace the true spirit of this nation. I began to understand Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address and the Civil War: A noble war fought for a principle and for those who could not fend for themselves. I also came to the enlightenment that it was the defense of the principles that America was found justified America’s own long endurance. After the improper victories of naval battles of the US vs. Spain and vs. Japan, the great American admirals all wondered: ‘Are we good or are we lucky?’ I always say with tears in my eyes: ‘Neither. You are blessed!!’
That is how I take the American spirit to my heart; and in doing so, I have wondered: What if ‘Amistad’ sailed from China today? Would America today stand for its principle or its pocket? Today I know safely that the same spirit and the same justice are intact at least in the city of Santee.
Yet, this is not just a Chinese issue. I have taught Falun Gong exercises to over one hundred San Diegans, most of whom are Americans. It may seem most inconceivable that over 200 hundred years after our founding fathers had declared certain inalienable rights, that our rights can come under the threat of a foreign government, yet that threat has come. By standing for your own citizens, you have fulfilled the promise of ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people.’ I admire and congratulate you.”
In response to my statement, you stated: “Your statement tells us why we must do this, as Dr. Martin Luther King once said, ‘In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.’”
Two years later the Cedar Fire broke out. While evacuating to the safety of my Falun Gong friends’ house, we watched attentively the expansion of the wildfire. By the time the fire began to threaten Santee, we heard from the news that firefighting resources had been so stretched after almost a week of wildfires that there were no firefighters or emergency personnel present in the area. On top of that, the power was also out. Then past midnight we heard from the news that the fire had forked in two directions, one to the west, one to the south, somehow went around Santee. At that moment, we looked at each other said: “Santee should thank its mayor!”
In introducing SJR-10 you have once again stood up for the righteousness. This time I believe California will have you and Senator Anderson to thank for the results.
Sincerely yours,
Dr. Shizhong Chen
Endnotes:
{1} AEI, “America is greater than ‘just okay’,” July 9, 2019.
http://www.aei.org/publication/america-greater-than-okay/.
{2} The 5000 Year Leap, “The Miracle in Philadelphia,” W. Cleon Skousen, National Center for Constitutional Studies, 1981.
{3} James Madison, “Notes on the Federal Convention,” 1787.
{4} Docs of Freedom, “Slavery and the Constitution.”
https://www.docsoffreedom.org/student/readings/slavery-and-the-constitution.
{5} Brainy Quote, “Top 10 Alexis de Tocqueville Quotes.”
https://www.brainyquote.com/lists/authors/top_10_alexis_de_tocqueville_quotes.
{6} TLDM.org: Communism’s 45 goals to destroy the United States
https://www.tldm.org/news7/communisminamerica.htm
The Blaze: 45 Communist goals for America
https://www.theblaze.com/video/45-communist-goals-for-america
{7} Citizen Review Online, “Communist Goals (1963) – How many have been fulfilled?” June 28, 2010.
https://www.citizenreviewonline.org/2010/Jun/communism.html.
{8} The Epoch TImes Citizen Review Online, “Communist Goals (1963) – How many have been fulfilled?” June 28, 2010.
https://www.citizenreviewonline.org/2010/Jun/communism.html.
{9} Chinascope, “The Battle for Man’s Soul – Part I,” September 23, 2018.
http://chinascope.org/archives/16224.
{10} Straitstimes, “An expose of how states manipulate other countries’ citizens,” July 1, 2018.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/an-expose-of-how-states-manipulate-other-countries-citizens.
{11} CSIS, “Cybersecurity: The China Problem,” June 27, 2018.
https://www.csis.org/analysis/pacnet-45-cybersecurity-china-problem.
{12} Jamestown Foundation, “Understanding the Role of Chambers of Commerce and Industry Associations in United Front Work,” June 19, 2018.
https://jamestown.org/program/understanding-the-role-of-chambers-of-commerce-and-industry-associations-in-united-front-work/.
{13} Lowy Institute, “China influence: in defence of parliamentary sovereignty,” April 19, 2018.
https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/china-influence-defence-parliamentary-sovereignty.
{14} Chinascope, “China’s First Batch of Graduates with Master’s Degree in United Front Studies,” July 9, 2018.
http://chinascope.org/archives/15505.
{15} Macrobusiness, “How China conducts ‘comprehensive coercion’ of nations,” July 4, 2018.
https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2018/07/china-conducts-comprehensive-coercion-nations/.
{16} China Channel, “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” April 11, 2018.
https://chinachannel.org/2018/04/11/how-to-win-friends/.
{17} Ibid.
{18} Ibid.
{19} The Asia Dialog, “Shadow Play: Elite Chinese State Influence Strategies and the Case of the Renminbi Internationalization – Part One,” July 19, 2018.
http://theasiadialogue.com/2018/07/19/shadow-play-elite-chinese-state-influence-strategies-and-the-case-of-renmininbi-internationalisation-part-one/.
{20} Wikipedia, “Chinese Americans.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Americans.
{21} Straitstimes, op. cit.
{22} CSIS, op. cit.
{23} Disobedient Media, “China’s Shift Towards California’s Gold Mountain,” July 12, 2017.
https://disobedientmedia.com/2017/07/chinas-shift-towards-californias-gold-mountain/.
{24} Ibid.
{25} California government site, “Governor Brown and Ministry of Commerce Partner to Boost Bilateral Trade and Investment,” April 9, 2013.
https://www.gov.ca.gov/2013/04/09/news17988/. {18} Xinhua, “U.S. governor of California calls for more cooperation with China,”
{26) Xinhua, “U.S. governor of California calls for more cooperation with China,” May 4, 2018.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-05/04/c_137156640.htm.
[27} Epoch Times, Chief Investment Officer of Largest US Public Pension Fund Has Deep Ties to Chinese Regime
https://m.theepochtimes.com/chief-investment-officer-of-us-largest-public-pension-fund-has-deep-ties-to-chinese-regime_2992183.html
{28} BBC: Hikvision: US pension funds invest in China ‘Big Brother’ firm,
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-47753085
{29} The Federalist: “Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s Ties To China Go Way Deeper Than an Alleged Office Spy.” August 8, 2018.
https://thefederalist.com/2018/08/08/sen-dianne-feinsteins-ties-china-go-way-deeper-alleged-office-spy/.
{30} Inside Sources, “Dianne Feinstein — Growing Rich off of Chinese Interests,” August 23, 2018.
https://www.insidesources.com/dianne-feinstein-growing-rich-off-of-chinese-interests/.
{31} Politico, “How Silicon Valley Became a Den of Spies,” July 27, 2018.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/07/27/silicon-valley-spies-china-russia-219071.
{32} Ibid.
{33} CECC, “Open Forum on Human Rights and The Rule of Law in China,” March 4, 2002, P. 26.
https://www.cecc.gov/sites/chinacommission.house.gov/files/documents/roundtables/2002/CECC%20Roundtable%20-%20Open%20Forum%20on%20Human%20Rights%20and%20the%20Rule%20of%20Law%20in%20China%20-%203.4.02.pdf.
{34} YouTube, “The Mayor of Santee, California Upholds Proclamation Despite.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skdPJfQuIc0.
{35} Chinascope, “Full Rebuttal in the Matter of the Divine Land Marching Band,” June 27, 2017.
http://chinascope.org/archives/16063.
{36} Disobedient Media, op. cit.
{37} San Luis Obispo Tribune, “California’s liberal Legislature voted for communism,” June 10, 2017.
https://www.sanluisobispo.com/opinion/article155544314.html.
{38} Asia Times, “Chinese students aren’t completely banned from the US – yet,” October 4, 2018.
http://www.atimes.com/article/chinese-students-arent-completely-banned-from-the-us-yet/.
{39} SupChina, “Chinese Cash at American Colleges Is a Massive Problem,” August 27, 2017.
https://supchina.com/2017/08/23/john-pomfret-chinese-cash-american-colleges-massive-problem/.
{40} Foreign Policy, “The Chinese Communist Party Is Setting Up Cells at Universities Across America,” April 18, 2018.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/04/18/the-chinese-communist-party-is-setting-up-cells-at-universities-across-america-china-students-beijing-surveillance/.
{41} New York Times, “On Campuses Far From China, Still Under Beijing’s Watchful Eye,” May 4, 2017.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/04/us/chinese-students-western-campuses-china-influence.html.
{42} Quartz, “Chinese students in the US are using ‘inclusion’ and ‘diversity’ to oppose a Dalai Lama graduation speech,” February 15, 2017.
https://qz.com/908922/chinese-students-at-ucsd-are-evoking-diversity-to-justify-their-opposition-to-the-dalai-lamas-graduation-speech/.
{43} Inside Higher Education, “Is China Punishing a U.S. University for Hosting the Dalai Lama?” September 20, 2017.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/09/20/china-punishing-american-university-hosting-dalai-lama.
{44} Inside Higher ED, “Gauging China’s ‘Influence and Interference’ in U.S. Higher Ed,” September 12, 2018.
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/09/12/wilson-center-releases-study-chinas-influence-and-interference-us-higher-ed.
{45} The Triton, “China Cuts Funding for Visiting Scholars After Dalai Lama Visit,” September 22, 2018.
http://triton.news/2017/09/china-cuts-funding-visiting-scholars-dalai-lama-visit/.
{46} News.com.au, “Economy relies on China as international students prop up our universities,” October 14, 2018.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/economy-relies-on-china-as-international-students-prop-up-our-universities/news-story/6bea7fc2c0c7dbd364346b74722c67df.
{47} SMH.com.au, “The ‘patriotic education’ of Chinese students at Australian universities,” October 7, 2016.
https://www.smh.com.au/education/the-patriotic-education-of-chinese-students-at-australian-universities-20161003-gru13j.html.
{48} The Epoch Times, “Human Rights Music Festival Blacklisted in Los Angeles Chinatown,” May 29, 2017.
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/2253486-human-rights-festival-blacklisted-in-los-angeles-chinatown/.
{49} Fog City Journal, “Supervisors Chu and Elsbernd support Chinese government oppression,” March 21, 2008.
http://www.fogcityjournal.com/wordpress/212/supervisors-chu-and-elsberndsupport-chinese-governemnt-oppression/.
{50} Courthouse News Service, “California Resolution on Human Rights Shelved After Chinese Opposition,” September 8, 2017.
https://www.courthousenews.com/california-resolution-human-rights-shelved-chinese-opposition/.
{51} “Bloody Harvest, The killing of Falun Gong for their organs,” David Kilgour and David Matas (2009).