Western Elites do not Understand Communism

Twenty years ago, a colleague commented that my homeland China had "free doctors," and it was a better system than the U.S. I was so surprised that a Ph.D. from a top university in the U.S. had such an impression. I grew up in China, but I had never seen a free doctor anywhere.

The whole education system and the entire mainstream media system gave a wrong impression of China to Americans. My daughters learned little about Chinese history in their high school history class. Unless they major in Asian Studies in college, I doubt that they will know much about the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) history from the American education system.

College Board, the company creating AP curriculum and SATs, has collaborated with the Chinese government in getting the material. Quite a few universities, including Standford and UCLA, teach Chinese curriculum via Confucius Institute, a Chinese language program sponsored by the Chinese government. It is not hard to understand why Confucius Institute censors all topics related to Taiwan, Tibet, and Tiananmen Massacre.  

With an education system highly infiltrated by the CCP for years, journalists already have a relatively "positive" view before starting a job. Media bias on human rights in China has been around for a long time. Yes, the mainstream media would report a little about forced labor camp, but never any big problem like a genocide because they do not want to ruin their relationship with China. New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post have received millions of dollars from the Chinese government to distribute "China Watch" - an English newspaper insertion promoting the CCP via over 30 mainstream media worldwide.

Think about the forced organ harvesting in China from prisoners of conscience. Multiple research groups collected hundreds of pieces of evidence. There were numerous witnesses' reports, but the mainstream media did not cover them at all. My conservative friends may find it similar to what they are experiencing now. One does not realize it until the censorship happens to him/her.

What we see now is similar to what Chinese people experienced eighty years ago. The paradise promised by communism never existed. People in every communist country went through famine and persecution. American freedom has been dying, little by little, for decades. Starting from academic freedom, then media freedom. If we do not change, eventually, communism will take over the world.

The Chinese Communist Party quickly gained financial power after China joined the World Trade Organization. Without foreign investments, the Chinese government would be unable to infiltrate and control the rest of the world. The U.S. lawmakers cannot stop at "condemning human rights abuses in China." They must take serious actions to prevent American businesses from sponsoring Chinese authority. We also need serious measures to protect academic and press freedom.