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“If you want to understand the threat from Communist China, read this book. It is the most insightful study of the sinister nature of the Chinese Communist Party and its ideology by scholars outside of China I have ever seen. Perhaps most importantly, if you want to know who Xi Jinping really is, how he thinks, why he behaves as he does, and the malicious plans he has for China and the world, as well as how the U.S. and the free world can stop him, this book is an essential read.” Cai Xia, former Professor at the Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party “Understanding the China Threat by Lianchao Han and Bradley Thayer is the most important book that I have ever read about the existential threat from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). These two experts present a clear and compelling assessment of the Chinese Communist Party’s ideological threat that remains unchanged since Mao, whose goal is to replace the United States as the world hegemon and rule by totalitarian force. This book is a clarion call for America and as someone who has devoted a lifetime to fighting the ideology of communism, I strongly encourage you to read this book and share widely, especially with our younger generations who have little knowledge or understanding of the threat of communism, especially Chinese communism. As the authors note, the threat is grave, but America can overcome our weak position and defeat the evils of the PRC by a return to our founding principles.” James E. Fanell, CAPT USN (Retired), former Director of Intelligence and Information Operations U.S. Pacific Fleet “Lianchao Han and Bradley A. Thayer have written an exceptional book docu- menting why China is the global threat to U.S. interests today and for decades to come. Han and Thayer demonstrate why China’s unparalleled expansion of their conventional and nuclear arsenals, employment of economic and ideological war- fare, and penetration of Western societies are the deliberate result of the Chinese Communist Party’s bid for domination. Their recommendations concerning the U.S. and allied response to the China threat should be heeded by U.S. national security decision-makers.” Admiral Cecil Haney, United States Navy (Retired), former Commander, United States Strategic Command “On three occasions, the United States has faced an existential threat: from Great Britain in the Revolution, from the expansionist Nazi Germany, and from the nuclear arms of the Soviet Union. But this new threat, from China, is quite unlike anything America has faced before: it is ideological, commercial, diplomatic, and military and on an unprecedented scale. This brilliant book is chilling, but it also offers hope. It charts the brutal politics of Xi Jinping’s emerging new world order, but shows precisely how the US can survive the onslaught, and win.” Dr. Rob Johnson, Director of the Changing Character of War Centre, University of Oxford “Understanding the China Threat is the single most important and useful guide to the central threat facing the United States. Han and Thayer offer a sober and clear- eyed assessment of what the rise of China means for the future of this country. This is real-world intelligence that will be mission-critical for policymakers, citizens and CEOs for years to come.” Brian T. Kennedy, Chairman of the Committee on the Present Danger: China and President, The American Strategy Group “In their latest work, Han and Thayer slay the canard that ideas don’t matter—that unlike the Soviet challenge, Beijing doesn’t mean to export a world-changing ideology. As the American and Chinese economies were purblindly intertwined, America itself came to question its birthright of freedom, perhaps uncoinciden- tally. Understanding the China Threat is a just-in-time dispatch on the ‘People’s Republic’ and its baleful captain of the ship, Xi Jinping.” Curt Mills, Analyst at Thiel Macro hedge fund and Contributing Editor of The American Conservative “For anyone seeking to understand the grave threat posed by China, this book is both authoritative and insightful. Lianchao Han and Bradley Thayer are realistic about the China threat and the West would do well to heed the warning that is found in the pages of this critically important volume.” Dr. Katrina Swett, President of the Lantos Foundation and former Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom “Tracing the origins of Xi Jinping’s totalitarian state to the foundations of ideological indoctrination, terror, and adulation of a god-like Emperor figure, laid by Mao in 1942–45 in the too-rarely mentioned ‘rectification campaign,’ a large-scale purge of those whose loyalty to Mao was suspect—conducted while the Americans and the Chinese nationalists were busy fighting the Japanese—the authors show how those foundations make today’s People’s Republic such a great menace to Americans and the world. Yet those foundations also create the regime’s great vulnerabilities. Written in a style that is both scholarly and also highly accessible, this book should be helpful for the growing audience of lay readers who have come to be skeptical of rosy myths about Communist China, probably the most dangerous adversary we have faced in the last two hundred years.” Ambassador Paul Wolfowitz, a Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution, is a former President of the World Bank, Ambassador to Indonesia, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, and U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense UNDERSTANDING THE CHINA THREAT This book examines the contours of the Sino-American confrontation and its future trajectories. It delineates the two major causes of the friction in Sino- American relations—change in the balance of power in China’s favor and the conflicting ideologies of the two states—and emphasizes why it is imperative for the U.S. to hold on to its ideological principles. It demonstrates the ultimate and irreconcilable gap in the visions the two competitors have for international politics and consequently why conflict—certainly cold, and very possibly hot— is inevitable. The authors also suggest measures which the U.S. can adopt to sustain its leadership and deter China’s ideology and vision for the future of global politics. A significant contribution to the study of Sino-American relations, the volume will be of interest to scholars and researchers of international relations, foreign policy, and U.S. and Chinese politics. It will be of great interest to think tanks, public policy professionals, and the interested general reader. Lianchao Han, Ph.D., Vice President, Citizen Power Initiatives for China. Bradley A. Thayer, Ph.D., Director of Research, Citizen Power Initiatives for China. UNDERSTANDING THE CHINA THREAT Lianchao Han and Bradley A. Thayer Cover image: Chinese President Xi Addresses the Opening Session of the U.S.-China Strategic Dialogue in Beijing. Image from Wikimedia Commons. Provided by the U.S. Department of State. Public Domain. First published 2023 by Routledge 4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2023 Lianchao Han and Bradley A. Thayer The right of Lianchao Han and Bradley A. Thayer to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Han, Lianchao, author. | Thayer, Bradley A., author. Title: Understanding the China threat / Lianchao Han and Bradley A. Thayer. Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2022. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Identifiers: LCCN 2022021470 (print) | LCCN 2022021471 (ebook) | ISBN 9781032110837 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032255071 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003283614 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: United States--Foreign relations--China. | China-- Foreign relations--United States. | United States--Foreign relations-- 21st century. | China--Foreign relations--21st century. Classification: LCC E183.8.C5 H1855 2022 (print) | LCC E183.8.C5 (ebook) | DDC 327.73051--dc23/eng/20220608 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022021470 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022021471 ISBN: 978-1-032-11083-7 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-032-25507-1 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-003-28361-4 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/9781003283614 Typeset in Bembo by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India For my mother, a disillusioned Chinese Communist who inspired me to oppose any form of totalitarianism. Lianchao Han For Eike Bradley A. Thayer CONTENTS Acknowledgments x 1 Introduction 1 2 The Ideology of the Chinese Communist Party: Its Innate Aggression Will Cause Conflict with the United States 17 3 Xi and the Xi Doctrine 74 4 China’s Growing Relative Power 148 5 Meeting the Challenge 163 6 Conclusions 187 Index 199