Prediction of the Week: Mishandling of U.S.-China policy

By John Kusumi

From 1999 to the present, U.S. China policy has been no better than "leaving the Jews in the gas chambers." For thirteen years, China has conducted a crackdown against Falun Gong which will be remembered in the history books as an episode of genocide. And, for the same thirteen years, U.S. China policy has served only to appease and enrich the Communists, dictators, tyrants and thugs of mainland Red China.

I've opened my article here with very strong words that evoke the Holocaust, as befell the Jews under Nazi Germany in World War II. For perspective, some comparison and contrast is in order. It is true that The Holocaust as befell the Jews was far deadlier -- 6 million Jews are said to have perished under the Nazis, while Falun Gong can only document some 3,500 deaths.

Perhaps we can write of The Holocaust with capital letters on the one hand, and write of the holocaust as befalls the Falun Gong with lower case letters. With the widely divergent death tolls, commentators can point out that The Holocaust was a larger human rights abuse than the holocaust.

Falun Gong, however, can (and has) replied by pointing out that the perpetrator -- China's Communist Party -- has a prior record of crimes against humanity. The persecution of Falun Gong is the fifth hideous atrocity in a list of the largest:

• "Land Reform" of 1950-52, death toll 3.7 million;
• "The Great Leap Forward" of 1959-61, death toll 31.5 million;
• "The Cultural Revolution" of 1966-76, death toll 7.5 million;
• "June 4th," the Tiananmen massacre of 1989, death toll 3,000+;
• Persecution of Falun Gong, ongoing, death toll 3,500+

The preceding are atrocities during the reign of the Communist Party (CCP); but, we can recall that the CCP came to power in a civil war, during which 40 million people were killed. By a sum of these numbers, we see that the CCP is responsible for 82,706,500+ untimely deaths in China. They also brag that their "one child policy" has prevented over 300 million live births.

The suffering of the Chinese people under that Communist Party is unparallelled in history. That death toll is larger than World War II, which may have killed 60 million people world-wide. China's Communist Party is the deadliest killer in history, bar none. (And indeed, the Guiness Book of World Records used to cite the CCP for the world record in mass murder.)

As history's largest tragedy proceeds and continues unfolding today, is it appropriate for U.S. President Barack Obama to once again "punt on first down" in U.S. relations with Communist China?

No! Absolutely nothing is appropriate about engaging, glad handing, appeasing, and enriching communists, dictators, tyrants and thugs. Diplomats in Beijing are now looking for ways to finesse (read, sweep under the rug) the escape of blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng from captivity.

First it was Wang Lijun (an official who sought refuge at a U.S. consulate in February, 2012), and now it is Chen Guangcheng. For the Communist Party, these two incidents are a loss of face and like self-inflicted gunshot wounds. Diplomats from the U.S. are likely to say that they will proceed with high-level talks as if they don't see the two smoking holes that the CCP has blown into its own feet.

I see no prospect that the Obama administration will do the right thing, and usher the Communist Party off of the world stage. By the end of this week, we can say of the Obama administration: "There they go again." The Obama adminstration has displayed weakness with China -- through on-again, off-again jet sales to Taiwan, and through refusing to designate China a currency manipulator.

By next week, I will be able to write a column--perhaps headlined, "One More Missed Opportunity--and note that once again, as per its standard procedure, the Obama administration has punted on first down and kow-towed to tyrants.

The story of Chen Guangcheng's escape is a soaring example of an indomitable human spirit that will accomplish Herculean feats in the pursuit of freedom, liberty, and justice. Chen's escape will be remembered in the annals of freedom.

America's founding fathers would be proud of Chen Guangcheng, and ashamed of Obama, Clinton, their diplomacy, and their complicity with tyranny, genocide, crimes against humanity, and their easy countenance for atrocities including those listed above. Not to mention their own war crimes, committed in America's name.

Once factor makes the scene interesting: The existential crisis at the CCP is happening during a U.S. presidential election year. That means, instead of silence on human rights abuses, suddenly the American news media is paying attention. It is the occasion for challengers to the President to criticize his handling of U.S.-China relations.

Republican challenger Mitt Romney has already been sharply critical of Obama in regards to China. Sunday, he issued a statement that said in part, "Any serious U.S. policy toward China must confront the facts of the Chinese government's denial of political liberties, its one-child policy and other violations of human rights."

The Chinese regime would prefer that we never hear the names Wang Lijun, Chen Guangcheng, and Mitt Romney. For them, those three names mean loss of face, loss of face, and loss of face, respectively. At present, it is an embarrassment and a humiliation to be a representative of the Chinese Communist Party.