China is an enemy of the United States. We cannot emphasize this enough. The Chinese Communist Party is a repressive regime that has little to no respect for the human rights of the citizens of China. As well, it is an active enemy of the United States, and has proven itself such over the decades, especially in recent years. Anyone who thinks that fair and straightforward negotiations with China on trade, human rights, or the independence of Taiwan is possible is engaging in naive thinking. The CCP cares about two thing: total control over the lives of its citzenry, and trade and military world dominance. The CCP regards the United States as the main obstacle to at least the second of those goals.

China has engaged in many activities that identify it as an enemy of the United States. China has imposed tariffs on U. S. goods. Trump has imposed retaliatory tariffs on China, and the two countries are currently in negotiations to bring forth a deal that will benefit both nations. Will China abide by that deal? China trade policies and practices have often been unfair or dishonest, including the theft of intellectual property from U. S. companies; forced labor practices that allow China to keeps its prices low, and manipulating currency against the interests of U. S. companies. China has also engaged in widespread cyberespionage that targets U. S. businesses, government agencies, and even individuals. The Chinese government has sponsored hackers who have targeted U. S. infrastructure as well as religious organizations and individuals or organizations that the CCP regards as enemies or critics of their government. As well, Chinese hackers have stolen large amounts of personal data on U. S. citizens by way of cyber attacks.

China has engaged in a build up and modernization of its military that poses a threat to its neighbors and to the U. S., who has allies in the Indo-Pacific region, including Taiwan and Australia. This includes construction and militarization of artificial islands in the South China Sea, in violation of international law. China has become increasingly threatening toward Taiwan, which the U. S. does not officially recognize as a separate nation, but whom the U. S. has promised to protect from military aggression. China has imposed sanctions on U. S. companies and individuals who have criticized China’s abysmal human rights record, especially when it comes to their treatment of the Uyghurs, its crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong, and its practice of killing practitioners of Fulan Gong to sell their organs. Recently, China imposed sanctions on U. S. defense companies in response to Trump’s tariffs. China has restricted the ability of U. S. companies to do business in their country.

American lawmakers have become increasingly concerned about the practice of the CCP to buy up land in the U. S. near our military facilities. It’s not rocket science to figure out why.

Just last month, two Chinese students doing research at the University of Michigan were charged with smuggling into the U. S. a fungus called Fusarium graminearum, in what federal officials are calling an attempt at agroterrorism. According to the FBI, the fungus can cause diseases in plants such as wheat, corn, rice and barley and “is responsible for billions of dollars in economic loss worldwide each year.”

China, of course, has a long history of persecuting Christians, both Catholic and Protestant. This persecution includes the incarceration of bishops and of leaders of Christian house churches. The plight of the mostly Muslim Uyghurs is well-documented. Religious freedom does not truly exist in China, for even those churches the government recognizes are kept under a heavy thumb and tight surveillance.

The United States needs to wake up about the threat from China. I don’t think we’ve been entirely asleep, but the fact that these two young people can successfully infiltrate our security and bring in a fungus that could potentially kill off a significant percentage of our agricultural produce, impacting us economically as well as endangering our supply of food, is cause for alarm. The CCP regards its own people as pawns in their political and social game. Given that, it’s no use thinking they have greater respect for us.

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.