We are in another evil empire moment. When President Ronald Reagan declared the Soviet Union an evil empire, he did so without equivocation. He made clear that the Cold War was not just a conflict between two great powers, but between two vastly differing ideologies. And the same is true today–except this time, our adversary is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
As Reagan said: “[I]f history teaches anything, it teaches that simpleminded appeasement or wishful thinking about our adversaries is folly. It means the betrayal of our past, the squandering of our freedom.” Reagan is right, we must be realistic about the adversary we face.
At its core, the conflict between the United States and China doesn’t rest on a difference of opinion, but a fundamentally different understanding of human freedom. While we believe that all people, including the Chinese people, are created with inalienable rights, the CCP believes no such thing.
This has been made clear again and again. Just look at the way Christians, Uyghurs, and followers of the Falun Gong religion are treated in China. Under Xi Jinping, like the Soviet Union, the party is the religion: infallible, and all-knowing—or so they would have you believe. The apotheosis of the Party is one of the tenants of all communist regimes.
And religion isn’t the only freedom threatened in China. Most businesses are under the thumb of the CCP. In this oppressive regime, all business has one goal—strengthening governmental control. No amount of work or ingenuity gets you financial success in China unless you also have the backing of the party. The American Dream many here take for granted, is a pipe dream in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
And that isn’t all. For decades, expectant mothers and unborn babies were under constant threat of violence because of dystopian-like population control measures. During COVID, no country cracked down like China—forcing millions to stay in their homes for weeks, even to the point of starvation.
Something else that separates the PRC and the U.S. is that our nation was founded on the rule of law, not the rule of force. Our Constitutional government ensures that we are a nation ruled by “a government of laws, not of men.” Mao’s revolution ensured this wouldn’t be the case in China. The only rule of law in the PRC is the one that gives the Chinese Communist Party the most authority to dictate what it wants and how it wants it.
One of the biggest problems is that the CCP isn’t content to rule its own country with an iron fist, it wants to export its regime and influence globally. The CCP is intent on dominating Asia and the world economy and is willing to commit espionage and cyber-attacks to do it.
The disagreements we have with China are mutually exclusive moral differences. So, like Reagan said of the Soviet Union 40 years ago, we are dealing today with an Evil Empire. And this one is far worse and far more dangerous than the Soviet Union ever was.
By Congressman Mark Green (TN-07)
As Reagan said: “[I]f history teaches anything, it teaches that simpleminded appeasement or wishful thinking about our adversaries is folly. It means the betrayal of our past, the squandering of our freedom.” Reagan is right, we must be realistic about the adversary we face.
At its core, the conflict between the United States and China doesn’t rest on a difference of opinion, but a fundamentally different understanding of human freedom. While we believe that all people, including the Chinese people, are created with inalienable rights, the CCP believes no such thing.
This has been made clear again and again. Just look at the way Christians, Uyghurs, and followers of the Falun Gong religion are treated in China. Under Xi Jinping, like the Soviet Union, the party is the religion: infallible, and all-knowing—or so they would have you believe. The apotheosis of the Party is one of the tenants of all communist regimes.
And religion isn’t the only freedom threatened in China. Most businesses are under the thumb of the CCP. In this oppressive regime, all business has one goal—strengthening governmental control. No amount of work or ingenuity gets you financial success in China unless you also have the backing of the party. The American Dream many here take for granted, is a pipe dream in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
And that isn’t all. For decades, expectant mothers and unborn babies were under constant threat of violence because of dystopian-like population control measures. During COVID, no country cracked down like China—forcing millions to stay in their homes for weeks, even to the point of starvation.
Something else that separates the PRC and the U.S. is that our nation was founded on the rule of law, not the rule of force. Our Constitutional government ensures that we are a nation ruled by “a government of laws, not of men.” Mao’s revolution ensured this wouldn’t be the case in China. The only rule of law in the PRC is the one that gives the Chinese Communist Party the most authority to dictate what it wants and how it wants it.
One of the biggest problems is that the CCP isn’t content to rule its own country with an iron fist, it wants to export its regime and influence globally. The CCP is intent on dominating Asia and the world economy and is willing to commit espionage and cyber-attacks to do it.
The disagreements we have with China are mutually exclusive moral differences. So, like Reagan said of the Soviet Union 40 years ago, we are dealing today with an Evil Empire. And this one is far worse and far more dangerous than the Soviet Union ever was.
By Congressman Mark Green (TN-07)
