Dictator in the Making: China's Perilous Challenge to the United States
China's Xi Jinping has taken an unprecedented third term as head of the Chinese Communist Party. In the process, he's surrounded himself with allies, pushing out all others. There are concerns that Xi will essentially become president for life and China watchers warn that scenario presents a perilous challenge to the United States and the world.
Members of the CCP applauded the accomplishments of Xi during their recent 20th Party Congress in Beijing where they reaffirmed his role as China's president.
"It's clear that he is going to continue to lead the Chinese Communist Party forward...the things that people find terribly egregious about the Chinese Communist Party, in particular, his leadership of the party, are going to continue and accelerate," said U.S. Air Force (ret.) Brigadier General Robert Spalding.
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Spalding is the CEO of Sempre and author of the new book, War Without Rules: China's Playbook for Global Domination.
Appearing on the CBN News program The Global Lane, Spalding suggested that Xi is likely to increase Christian and Uyghur persecution, promote anti-U.S. alliances, and expand China's military reach around the world.
In his book, Spalding writes that the CCP is in a continual state of war without rules.
So, where might China dominate militarily – on the sea with an expanded navy, leaps forward in outer space, cyberspace, or A.I.?
Spalding insists it is all of the above, and he predicts China will face a big challenge from U.S. semiconductor technology.
"Now that the Biden administration has gone after the chip industry, assisting them in elevating their chip technology, I think they're going to be hindered by that," he said.
While Spalding believes Xi may invade Taiwan in the coming months, Jason Ho with Teklium Inc., a Silicon Valley tech company, doesn’t think China would risk a hot war with the United States.
The Taiwanese American sees the CCP as already capturing Taiwan through pro-communist relationships.
"Taiwanese elite and the Chinese elite, actually, they are close," Ho explained. "They have very close family ties – China and Taiwan – and all those relationships (are) very sophisticated."
And despite tough talk from President Biden and other leaders, Ho said China has strong business ties in the United States such as Hollywood and professional sports like the NBA, along with major influence on social media.
"We can criticize Russia, but we cannot talk about China," Ho insisted. "This is very well-planned. They know how to use Taiwan. They know how to use duality to achieve their goals."
One big step to counter China according to Spalding came in August when President Biden signed the Chips and Science Act. That law provides billions in subsidies and tax credits to help expand the U.S. semiconductor industry. That raised the ire of the CCP.
"What they're saying is they've essentially decapitated China's ability to evolve their chip industry. So, that's a good first start. Clearly not enough because there's other things like pharmaceuticals and rare earth metals that we've got to get after. But if we keep those up, I think we're on a good path," he said.
It's a necessary path, said Spalding, for slowing China's long march to global dominance.
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About The Author
Mr. Lane served as International News Director and Senior International Correspondent for CBN News. He traveled to more than 120 countries—many of them restricted nations or areas hostile to Christianity and other minority faiths where he has interviewed persecution victims and provided video reports and analysis for CBN News. Also, he provided written stories and served as a consultant for the Voice of the Martyrs.
Gary joined The Christian Broadcasting Network in 1984 as the first full-time Middle East Correspondent for CBN News. Based in Jerusalem, Gary produced reports from Beirut on the Lebanese civil war. He was reassigned to Washington, D.C., at the start of President Reagan’s second term and served as National Security Correspondent from the U.S. State Department, Pentagon, Capitol Hill, and the White House.
Gary left CBN briefly in 1988 to work as Senior Press Secretary for Pat Robertson’s presidential campaign. Afterward, he returned to Washington and served as Washington Bureau Chief for CBN News from 1989-1992.
Gary transferred to CBN headquarters in Virginia Beach in 1996, where he began more extensive international traveling and reporting as a Senior Correspondent.
In addition to his extensive reporting on Christian persecution, Gary is also known for his reporting on the civil war in Sudan. He made 20 trips to the country since 1993 and also testified before Congress about the plight of Burmese refugees.
Gary produced numerous documentaries, including Americans Abandoned for the American Defense Institute, which afforded him the opportunity to become the first American journalist granted access to the Vietnamese Defense and Cultural Film archives. The investigative film about American POWs featured Vietnam War footage never seen before by Americans.
Gary also produced several persecution documentaries, including one about Christians in Egypt for Freedom House—Their Blood Cries Out—and another about attacks in Indonesia for The Voice of the Martyrs—Island Jihad. He also worked as a production consultant and videographer for the VOM video specials Underground Reality Vietnam and Underground Reality Colombia.
Over the years, Gary covered wars in Lebanon, Israel, Nicaragua, Angola, Burma, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Colombia, Libya, and Syria. He won several awards, including one from the National Gulf War Resource Center for his groundbreaking investigative reporting of Gulf War Illness, an affliction affecting veterans of Operation Desert Storm. The Australian Evangelical Press Association gave him an award for his reporting of a church massacre that occurred in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, shortly after 9-11.
Gary left CBN in 2000 to join the Voice of The Martyrs as their News Director, where he directed the mission’s multimedia efforts. Those included the website, monthly newsletter, video productions, publications, press releases, and media interviews.
Gary rejoined CBN in late 2003 as International News Director/Senior Correspondent. He served as executive producer of three weekly international news programs: Christian World News (CWN); Mundo Cristiano, a Spanish version of CWN produced in Costa Rica; and an Arabic language version of CWN, CWN Arabic, which was broadcast throughout North Africa and the Middle East. He also hosted and produced the weekly CBN News Channel program, The Global Lane.
Prior to CBN, Gary worked for various local television stations in Michigan, including one owned by Time Inc. and another by Knight-Ridder. Before that, he worked at local radio stations in Flint and Detroit.
Gary is a 1979 honors graduate of The University of Michigan, Flint, where he served as political editor of The University News, studied pre-law, and received an A.B. in political science and history.
