We've all seen 'made in China' on various products, but the Chinese influence over the U.S. economy goes far beyond overseas factories. The Chinese have spent many years building inroads into American technology, finance and media. "China's communist party exploits all points of contact with the United States, and an important element of their campaign involves U.S. companies and institutions," says Gordon Chang, author of The Coming Collapse of China.
Chang tells KTRH the Chinese influence also extends to entertainment and professional sports. "We saw this with the NBA, but it's clearly also with Hollywood studios and just regular U.S. companies, whether or not they have operations in China," he says.
The growing Chinese presence in American companies and industries not only gives them a foothold into our economy, but also poses a threat of espionage---as China has stolen our technology and intellectual property in the past. "China influences American companies in a number of ways," says Chang. "It just buys some companies outright, but also American companies in China have communist party members, who either act openly or surreptitiously."
The Biden Administration appears to be heeding the outgoing advice from the Trump Administration about the threat from China. New Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week that China is the "most significant threat" and biggest competition to the U.S. right now, adding that our relationship is "complicated."
Chang hopes the president will follow up that rhetoric with action. "The way that we solve this problem is for the president to use emergency economic powers to cut off ties with China," he says. "That's the fastest way, that's the surest way, and I think it's probably the only way it's going to happen."