In Talk Land, there's long been a distinction between how evil the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is, and how that doesn't apply to the Chinese people. But like any slick dictatorship, China is exploiting even that distinction.
How do they do this? By forcing compliance upon their own population, through the removal of "freedoms," loss of money/status, or even threat of death or imprisonment. Through fear, China's government forces China's citizens to be individual mobile activists for the CCP. And this doesn't just happen in China, it happens right here in the U.S.
That's exactly how the Erik Swalwells hire a student-national and then find out she's not just a student. She's a spy for China.
Or the Dianne Feinsteins hire a limo driver for years, develop a personal relationship with him, and then discover he's been selling her out for secrets.
China's oppressive tentacles extend into every individual it has sway over, reaching in and controlling them like marionettes. So, while it's tempting to want to draw lines between government and population, China makes that nearly impossible. Essentially, they're using our own paranoia about racism against us, because they have no standards and will use any advantage we're willing to give.
And we've left ourselves wide open on this one.
Thankfully, there's bipartisan movement on this front. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) are together calling on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate TikTok, who are long rumored to be giving user information to the CCP. Why? Because they're a Chinese company. So China holds their strings.
Everyone knows China buying American farmland is a problem, and solutions are being discussed (though not fast enough). But this one's even trickier. We are willing to stop the Chinese government from owning American land, but are we willing to stop Chinese citizens from buying land? What about Chinese citizens running American companies? The lines get very murky, and the CCP is going to exploit every single one of them.
This is exactly why American companies fraternizing with the enemy is so concerning. When China dangles their market over the NBA, or Disney, or Apple, these companies are tempted to, and often do, capitulate to China's demands. We thought they'd export American values, but the opposite has been true. We're importing China's.
Ultimately, we have to start looking at China as they are: a non-subtle enemy. They are bent on power and control and are willing to destroy anything in their path to get it. Right now, we're in their way. But if we don't deal with them smartly, by having these difficult conversations about their tactics, they're going to win while we sleep.
Ryan Wiggins is the author of the extremely serious and not funny robot novel, The Life of Human, and is a writer and producer of television shows. He is the host of Wiggins America on 97.1 FM Talk in St. Louis.