This is one of those “make of it what you will” stories.
The Trump administration is intensifying U.S. pressure on China, piling on visa bans, sanctions and other restrictions that are battering already unsettled ties between the world’s two largest economies.
Attorney General William Barr, in a speech Thursday, warned U.S. businesses that they are at risk of collaborating with a Chinese government that ultimately seeks to supplant them in its expanding state-run economy. Administration officials are also discussing banning travel by China’s Communist Party members and their families to the U.S., people familiar with the matter said.
Discussions are in early stages, with no timeline for being put into effect, the people said. If put into policy, advisers and policy analysts said the ban would strike at the legitimacy of the increasingly powerful party.
The administration has amped up a broader confrontation with Beijing in recent weeks by imposing sanctions on a member of the Communist Party leadership, signing legislation that targets other Chinese officials and holding full-scale military exercises in the South China Sea.
The Democrat-controlled media attributed this to Trump’s poll numbers and alleged failings in confronting the Wuhan virus, and Beijing’s hirelings made a point of quoting Chinese sources making this baseless allegation:
Behind the scenes, senior Chinese officials seem to have little desire to escalate the tensions even further, concerned that any moves could play into President Trump’s hands as he mounts his re-election campaign. A highly visible showdown with China could distract Americans from Mr. Trump’s botched response to the pandemic and allow him to campaign as a leader who is defending his country against a foreign power.
“This is a classic game, to find an external distraction and rouse the people behind the president,” said Lau Siu-kai, a senior Beijing adviser on Hong Kong issues.
While the move may have come too late, it was clearly justified. For a couple of decades, China has bought its way into the very fabric of American economic and political life. Many of our major research universities are awash in Chinese money and Chinese researchers. Intellectual property is stolen or given up under coercive circumstances. After the breach of Office of Personnel Management files by Chinese hackers that was made public in 2015, there is no telling how many senior US bureaucrats are now Chinese assets. Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein had a Chinese agent as her personal driver for years (see How the FBI Let a Chinese Spy Skate to Protect This Powerful Democrat). A Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee had a sexual liaison with a Chinese intelligence agent (see While Eric Swalwell Was Sleeping With a Chinese Spy Adam Schiff Put Him in Charge of CIA Oversight. New Information Indicates Democrat Eric Swalwell Is Lying About Breaking Ties With Chinese Honeytrap, and Jim Sciutto Gives Eric Swalwell a Tongue Bath (NTTAWWT) Instead of Holding Him Accountable for His Compromise by Chinese Intelligence). Our CIA appears to be riddled with Chinese assets. Mainstream US publications run multipage Chinese advertising specials and then, mysteriously, defend China from attacks.
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