The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) rules China but it is not the legitimate government of China. The CCP is illegitimate for three reasons. First, because they were formed and nurtured by the Communist International, and their seizure of power in 1949 was made possible by Stalin with his full backing and support in wake of defeat of Japan.
Second, as with the other poison fruits of the Bolshevik Revolution, because they seek to sustain the tyranny of the failed ideology of Marxism-Leninism on the Chinese people. The dependence upon this imported Western ideology means that at root the CCP’s ideology of Marxism-Leninism, and its Chinese idioms, Maoism and later “Xi Jinping Thought,” are illegitimate for China. This ideology should be thought of for what it is: the last surviving form of Western colonialism. Despite the CCP’s efforts, they cannot hide the fact that they are the product of colonialism. The “Century of Humiliation,” that defined Western imperialism in China from the First Opium War (1839-1842) to the CCP’s victory (1949) in fact has not ended. More accurately given the CCP’s colonial origins, China will soon realize its second century of humiliation.
This causes a legitimation crisis in China that provides justification for the CCP’s overthrow. Its fall would permit China to evolve into a neo-Confucian polity which is in accord with the historical political culture of dynastic China. As a product of Western intellectual thought, Marx, Engels, and Lenin, the CCP lacks even the legitimacy of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911/1912) who were foreign, Manchu rather than Han, but who ruled successfully in accord with China’s dynastic ideology.
Third, the CCP is vulnerable because of its abhorrent and contemptible leadership and the accelerated misrule of Communist dictator Xi Jinping. It possesses odious rulers who have forced China to endure decades of misrule. Seventy years of tyranny and wars against the Chinese people have led to scores of millions killed by the Chinese regime and the recognition by the Chinese people that the regime rules for itself, not for the people.
To call attention to the tyrannical and corrupt nature of CCP leaders, the U.S. can act to reveal their nature to the world. In a particularly insightful action, Sen. Marco Rubio has inserted language into the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 which tasks the Intelligence Community (IC) to produce an unclassified report within one year on the wealth and corrupt activities of the leadership of the CCP, including the General Secretary of the CCP, Xi Jinping, and senior leadership officials of the Central Committee, the Politburo, the Politburo Standing Committee, and regional Party Secretaries. Moreover, after the first report is enacted, there will an update within two years, and subsequent updates once a year thereafter.
In another positive step, the Senate has tasked the Congressional Research Service (CRS) to research this and produce a study to which all people around the globe will have access.
Sen. Rubio’s political warfare measures to de-legitimate and undermine the CCP are important for three reasons. First, strategically, the most effective strategy to defeat the CCP’s ambition and preserve U.S. national security interests is to target the CCP’s demise—but that also presents new challenges for the United States. The CCP’s legitimation crisis is at hand. They failed, as all Communist governments do. The Chinese people know it, the Party does, and likely Xi himself sees the truth. Sen. Rubio’s tasking of the IC to conduct an investigation of the wealth and corruption of the CCP leadership will reveal the outlines of that base regime. No doubt, it will find that the CCP’s leaders are billionaires with untold wealth in New York, Switzerland, Dubai, London, Paris, and countless other locations. While that has been long suspected, the revelation of the facts will be important for the Chinese people and the world to know. Xi Jinping is a Communist, but he is also a billionaire. No Communist should be a billionaire, so he clearly places his personal position above the Chinese people. Moreover, precisely how did he get his wealth on his nominal salary.
Second, by accurately identifying its weaknesses, such as the obscene and ill-gotten wealth of its leadership, policies may be developed that assist its fall and permit the U.S. and its allies to prepare for its demise. The ideological crisis of legitimacy, the increasing paranoid rule of Xi and ever-tightening circles of fear among the Party leadership provide important paths to the fall of the CCP. Accordingly, while the fall of the CCP is not likely to be the result of actions that the U.S. can compel, the study of the wealth and corruption of the CCP leadership contributes to its legitimation crisis and hastens the end of the regime.
Third, in the realm of political warfare, just as the CCP targets the U.S. and its key allies, targeting CCP leadership by rejecting its legitimacy, noting that it is beyond the bounds of acceptable behavior in international society, and openly planning for a post-Communist China is an appropriate U.S. response. The U.S. has done this before. For instance, the Atlantic Charter of August 1941 envisioned and commenced planning a post-Nazi Europe. It demonstrates a resolve to Xi and the leadership of the Chinese regime that the U.S. will fight in the realm of political warfare. It also signals that it is determined to cause its downfall. In turn, this places the Party under pressure due to the decades of abuse of the Chinese people, the economic and social problems now surfacing as its economy is in freefall, and the willingness of the CCP leadership to profit at the expense of the Chinese people. In essence, targeting the CCP leadership is supremely important for the U.S. and offers the possibility of the Chinese regime’s overthrow without resorting to kinetic war.
The CCP may not fear the leadership of the United States because Biden and his family are compromised by CCP money and influence, but they fear the Chinese people as they know they are illegitimate. Knowing how many billions Xi, his family, and associates have in overseas banks, properties, and other assets is significant to reveal the true corrupt nature of the CCP leadership, with specific amounts and locations documented. That will allow the victims of the CCP to move to seize those assets. Equally, it will allow the Chinese people and the world to see proof of the CCP’s gross misrule and abuse of the country and the Chinese people. Sen. Rubio’s bold actions may spark the events that lead to their overthrow.
Paul Berkowitz is a former House Foreign Affairs Committee Staffer and a Deputy Assistant Administrator for South and Central Asia at USAID, and Bradley A. Thayer is a Warroom Contributor and the coauthor with James Fanell of Embracing Communist China: America’s Greatest Strategic Failure.
