Webinar | Is the CCP our enemy? Getting clarity about our time’s existential threat to freedom

One of the most time-tested principles in international affairs is the prescription “If you want peace, prepare for war.”

Since he became Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth has been clear about the most serious threat against which we must prepare – namely, that posed by the Chinese Communist Party.

The long-awaited National Defense Strategy reportedly will emphasize that reality. Secretary Hegseth told senior military leaders recently there would be “no rear areas” in the next war –presumably, because of the large numbers of Chinese soldiers here.

And on Saturday, Secretary Hegseth warned Asian nations of the imperative of improving “threat awareness” and maritime capabilities in the face of China’s increasingly “destabilizing” and “coercive” actions in the South China Sea.

On 1 November, however, the Secretary of War posted the following statement on social media:

I just spoke to President Trump, and we agree — the relationship between the United States and China has never been better. Following President Trump’s historic meeting with Chairman Xi in South Korea, I had an equally positive meeting with my counterpart, China’s Minister of National Defense Admiral Dong Jun in Malaysia. And we spoke again last night. The Admiral and I agree that peace, stability, and good relations are the best path for our two great and strong countries. As President Trump said, his historic “G2 meeting” set the tone for everlasting peace and success for the U.S. and China. The Department of War will do the same — peace through strength, mutual respect, and positive relations. Admiral Dong and I also agreed that we should set up military-to-military channels to deconflict and deescalate any problems that arise. We have more meetings on that coming soon. God bless both China and the USA!

This CPDC webinar addresses what is, in fact, the Trump administration’s assessment of, and policy toward, the Chinese Communist Party. Are the messaging and strategic approach being pursued vis a vis the CCP consistent with the President’s historic position – abundantly documented in Lee Smith’s new book, The China Matrix – that China under the Communists is a threat, as are those in this country who have aided and abetted it?

Alternatively, has the United States now reverted to a policy of engagement of which Mr. Trump has long been critical? Or is he simply doing his own version of Chinese dictator Deng Xioping’s “hide and bide” strategy – speaking softly while restoring what Teddy Roosevelt called the “Big Stick”?

Moderator

- Frank Gaffney, President, Institute for the American Future; Vice Chairman, Committee on the Present Danger: China; Member, Victory Coalition; host, “Securing America”

Panelists:

- Capt. James Fanell, U.S. Navy (Ret.), former Chief of Intelligence and Information Operations, U.S. Pacific Fleet; Senior Fellow, Geneva Center for Security Policy; co-author, Embracing Communist China: America’s Greatest Strategic Failure; columnist, AmericanGreatness.com

- Trevor Loudon, author and filmmaker, The Enemy Within; essayist and podcaster

- J.R. Nyquist, Strategic analyst; essayist; podcaster; author, The Origins of the Fourth World War and the Coming Wars of Mass Destruction

- Brian Kennedy, Chairman, Committee on the Present Danger: China, President, American Strategy Group; former President, Claremont Institute; author, Communist China’s War Inside America