Latest news with #SevenThingsYouCan'tSayAboutChina
Epoch Times
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
One of Seven: Sen. Cotton Highlights China's Calculated Approach to Religious Persecution
Commentary Sen. Tom Cotton's (R-Ark.) latest book, 'Seven Things You Can't Say About China,' rips back the curtain on the Chinese Communist Party's persistent influence and ongoing efforts to suppress political, economic, and social freedoms. While much of the global conversation surrounding China focuses on trade and military expansion, a critical and often overlooked aspect of Beijing's authoritarianism is its systematic persecution of religious groups. China's efforts are no longer confined to traditional methods of censorship and intimidation; it has expanded into a sophisticated network of surveillance technology and economic coercion, aiding its efforts to silence dissent both at home and abroad. A State-Controlled Faith: China's War on Religious Freedom China does not abide religious independence. Instead, it allows for only For Christians, the control is In regions like Xinjiang, the persecution is even more extreme. Uyghur Muslims face mass detentions, forced labor, and ideological indoctrination, all aimed at These attacks are particularly disheartening when we consider that, in a country of 1.4 billion people, fewer than 25 percent adhere to any religion. Technology as a Weapon of Suppression China is perfecting its persecution of religious groups. No longer simply about physical oppression, it now harnesses the world's most advanced Related Stories 5/22/2025 5/22/2025 The Meanwhile, digital censorship ensures that religious discourse remains firmly under state control. Religious websites, online sermons, and digital faith communities must receive government approval to exist. Chinese authorities routinely shut down platforms that distribute religious materials, ensuring that spiritual teachings remain inaccessible outside of state-sanctioned institutions. Furthermore, The Economic Side of Religious Persecution China's war on faith is firmly nested in its global economic strategy. Forced labor involving religious minorities—particularly Uyghurs—has created an Beyond forced labor, China has leveraged economic dependency to Even in the United States and other Western countries, China exploits economic retaliations to silence dissent. Corporations that criticize Beijing's human rights record frequently face trade restrictions or are blocked from the Chinese market. What Comes Next? While the United States has responded with Internationally, China's export of surveillance technology to authoritarian regimes raises deeper concerns. Many governments have purchased Chinese facial recognition systems, signaling a growing trend where The Future of Religious Freedom in China Under Xi Jinping's leadership, China's religious persecution has evolved into a multi-dimensional strategy, combining state control, economic leverage, and technological suppression to dismantle independent faith communities. The question now is whether Western nations will move beyond rhetoric to take tangible steps in response. Economic policy, diplomatic alliances, and counter-surveillance measures will determine whether Beijing's war on religious freedom continues unchallenged—or whether global pressure forces a reckoning. For now, Cotton's book highlights an uncomfortable truth: China's human rights abuses are not isolated incidents—they are a calculated strategy designed to reshape global governance. And unless the world takes action, the consequences will extend far beyond China's borders. Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Forbes
29-03-2025
- Business
- Forbes
One China Diplomat's Reply To U.S. Critics: Visit And For Yourself
Barely a day goes by without a prominent U.S. politician criticizing China. This month, a scathing book by Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton – 'Seven Things You Can't Say About China' – reached the New York Times Best Sellers List. Setting the tone for the 192-page publication, the first chapter is called 'China Is an Evil Empire.' One senior Chinese diplomat in the U.S. had a spirited response to the country's critics last week, especially those that haven't spent time there: Visit the place yourself. People who go to the country 'will not give this kind of worst a definition of China as evil,' Chinese Consul General in New York Chen Li said in an interview with Forbes China. 'When they come back, they will say China is not what the media describes… It's absolutely a different world.' Certainly China this month has been visited by a Who's Who of American business elite attending a development conference in Beijing. They include Apple's Tim Cook, FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam, Cargill CEO Brian Sikes, Medtronic CEO Geoffrey Martha, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, according to media reports. And from the world of politics, there was also Senator Steve Daines of Montana, an ally of President Donald Trump, who was in Beijing to try to pave the way for a meeting between the U.S. leader and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. 'This visit is the first step to arrange and set up the next step, which will be a very important meeting between President Xi and President Trump — when that occurs, I don't know, where it occurs, I don't know,' Daines said in a New York Times interview. China attaches importance to meetings with U.S. leaders and would welcome a gathering with Trump, Chen said. 'The personal relations between the heads of states is very important,' he noted. 'We hope this kind of exchange of visits will continue.' Chen also said, however, that such a meeting 'is not just to say hello, shake hands and have a kind of cup of tea.' Rather, 'there should be some outcomes, achievements, and set a tone to the future relations.' 'Is it the atmosphere now? We don't know,' said Chen, citing mixed U.S. signals. Visiting China is in theory much easier now for most Americans after a change in visa policies late last year. The country starting on Dec. 17 said it would expand a visa-free transit policy by allowing U.S. citizens with an onward ticket to a third country or region to stay to 10 days. That doesn't mean anyone can get in. Then-Senator Marco Rubio, for instance, was banned in 2020 for criticizing China's policies toward Uyghurs; journalists face visa rules that are different from tourists. The eased transit visa rules can't hide geopolitical differences between Washington and Beijing over Taiwan and the South China Sea, as well as over economic policies and spying, among other disputes. And yet China remain impossible to ignore as a big U.S. economic partner, a global force as the world's No. 2 economy, a major military power and the globe's second most-populous nation. U.S. supply chains for industries for everything from autos to pharmaceuticals run through the country; millions of Americans regularly use and enjoy China-controlled social site TikTok and e-commerce platform Temu. Just this week, Chinese auto giant BYD made headlines around the world by topping Tesla in launching time-saving EV battery charger technology, while Tesla CEO Elon Musk was distracted with his high-profile political role in Washington. Chen, 57, started his first-ever U.S. posting last October, succeeding Huang Ping who held the position for six years. It's an important role for China: about half of 4.7 million Chinese Americans live in the states of New York and California as of 2022, according to a recent report by Pew Research, citing U.S. Census Bureau data. Having previously held five jobs in Europe including Ambassador to Finland, Chen said he has been surprised in his U.S. travels to discover a curiosity about China, and believes more people-to-people ties would help relations. 'When we meet ordinary people, they are so curious about China,' Chen said. There 'are two perceptions to China from the American side: the people and politicians. So why it is so separate and divided?' Cotton's book – and other scathing criticism of China's Communist Party – remind the diplomat of frequent storylines in Hollywood: 'There needs to be an enemy,' Chen said. One stabilizing factor between the two sides could be investment. When Chen calls on state and city governments, officials widely 'welcome Chinese investment coming there,' he said. One example is Fuyao Glass America in Ohio, where he visited this month. 'I hope to see more and more this kind of successful stories be made here in America,' Chen said. He was also upbeat about a Chinese program to encourage American college students to visit China. And yet, Chen noted, the White House referred to China as an 'adversary' last month in a statement about its 'America First Investment Policy,' and has threatened restrictions on everything from trade to student enrollment. That part of the relationship will hurt investment confidence among Chinese businesses in the U.S., he said. Chen's more upbeat observations are belied by polls that show American worries about relations with China. Pew Research, for instance, last year found that eight-in-ten Americans had an unfavorable view of the country. If, as Chen hopes, more people-to-people outreach is the way to go, there's still a lot of work ahead. Global 2000: China Glass Maker Rides Auto Industry Boom Another Look: IMAX China Soars As Blockbuster Ne Zha 2 Breaks Records
Fox News
23-02-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Extra: The Dangers Of China Becoming The ‘World's Dominant Superpower'
While much of this past week's attention was on the war In Ukraine and the Trump Administration's talks with Russia, a prominent Republican Senator says America can not lose focus on another international foe. Senator Tom Cotton has written a book, 'Seven Things You Can't Say About China,' which aims to give an honest, unflinching assessment of China's threats. This past Tuesday, Sen. Cotton joined Dave Anthony of the Rundown to explain how China became America's most dangerous enemy, the subtle ways China has infiltrated the United States, and how we must respond as a nation. The Arkansas Republican explained why he's very concerned about TikTok's links to China and the Chinese Communist Party's use of the social media platform to collect data and influence. The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee also discussed what it would be like if China 'won' and became the globe's leading superpower. We often must cut interviews short during the week, but we thought you might like to hear the full interview. Today, on Fox News Rundown Extra, we will share our entire interview with Senator Tom Cotton, allowing you to hear more about his concerns about China and what actions Washington must take. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
Fox News
19-02-2025
- Business
- Fox News
China's Subtle 'Infiltration' Of America
Foreign policy was a major pain point during the 2024 presidential campaign and one thing that could be agreed upon was the global threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) has written a book, 'Seven Things You Can't Say About China' where he aims to give an honest, unflinching look at the threats posed by China. Sen. Cotton joined the Rundown to break down how China became America's most dangerous enemy, the subtle ways China has infiltrated the United States, and how we must respond as a nation. The avian flu is causing massive price increases in the egg industry, with some farms being forced to cull their entire flock to avoid further spread of the disease. The rising costs have been seen in supermarkets across the country, with the average price for a dozen eggs sitting around five dollars. These high prices have trickled down to restaurants too, with many increasing menu prices to keep pace with the climbing egg fares. Chief Operations Officer of Green Eggs Cafe Stephen Slaughter joins the Rundown to discuss the rise in cost for his company, what he has been hearing from his egg distributors, and the challenges that have faced the industry in the last five years. Plus, commentary from Chief National Initiatives Officer at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Chuck DeVore. Photo Credit: AP Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
Fox News
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
'SEVEN THINGS YOU CAN'T SAY ABOUT CHINA': Sen. Tom Cotton Breaks Down New Book, Biggest Foreign Threat to the United States
Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference and author of Seven Things You Can't Say About China , joined The Guy Benson Show to discuss his brand-new book and some of its most critical revelations–including how China is infiltrating America through lobbying efforts and from inside the United States government. Sen. Cotton discussed how China is preparing for war. He discussed how this war preparation reveals the need for U.S. deterrence efforts against a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Guy and Senator Cotton also discussed the return of TikTok to app stores and the push to sever it from CCP control, ongoing negotiations to end the Russia-Ukraine war, his clash with Trump nominee Elbridge Colby, and why Hamas must not be allowed to control any inch of Israeli territory. Listen to the full interview below. Listen to the full interview: Listen to the full podcast: Read the full (automated) transcript below: GUY BENSON: I'm happy to welcome back to the show. Now, United States Senator Tom cotton, Republican from Arkansas. He's out with a new book, Seven Things You Can't Say About China. Senator, welcome back to the show. SEN. TOM COTTON: Hey, Guy, it's great to be on with you. Thanks for having me. GUY BENSON: I want to talk about news of the day and politics and all of that. But before we get to any of it, let's focus on this new book, seven Things You Can't Say About China. We only have so much time, so I don't want to run through all seven. I am particularly interested in a few of the points that you make. If you can just maybe give a taste of what your book explains and reports for our audience. One of them is China is preparing for war. If you can get into the details there. And then, perhaps relatedly, another one is China has infiltrated our government. That is a scary claim. I think it's undeniably true in certain respects. Why don't we start there when you assert that China, the CCP, the Chinese Communist Party has infiltrated our the U.S. government? What do you mean? SEN. TOM COTTON: Yeah. Well, first guy, it's important to note one of the other things I say you can't say about China and that's that it's waging an economic world war, and it has been for several decades against the United States. And the reason that is so important is that the the power and the wealth that China has built up has allowed it to underwrite that rapid military buildup that has preparing for war. It's also allowed it to infiltrate our society and our government. So, as I say, in the chapter about China infiltrating our government, yes. China uses just traditional spy methods. Think about, you know, what you saw in the Cold War from period pieces like The Americans or spy fiction? But that's not just history that's actually happening today in Washington with Chinese spies. But that's far from the only thing they're doing. They're trying to infiltrate our military with old fashioned spies. They're recruiting veterans to help train their military. They're launching cyber attacks against our defense industry. That's one reason why the People's Liberation Army aircraft looks strange. And like American aircraft, they're trying to buy land up around sensitive military sites, but they're also engaged deeply in the Washington Swamp, again, not just to traditional spies, but to trying to influence politicians. You may recall that Bill Clinton's campaign get almost $3 million and had to return, and criminal cases were brought against Chinese influence agents. China is adept at putting, Chinese spies around politicians. Think about Dianne Feinstein, driver, or Eric Swalwell, supporter, who he later had apparently a romantic relationship with. And also maybe even more pervasive is what I call the new China lobby, people who are working on behalf of Chinese interest and Chinese companies, which are almost always linked back to the Chinese Communist Party. These are former lawmakers of both parties, former aides of leaders in both parties. There's also people going back in the government. You know, I remember in the Biden administration, you had the general counsel at the CIA and the director of national intelligence. Both had worked as lawyers for Chinese interest at their law firms. And their defense was well, the cases came to us. Well, you know, these liberal law firms for what? You turn down cases depending on tobacco companies or oil and gas companies. But apparently you're compelled to work on behalf of Chinese communist interests. So. So China has extended its influence to Washington. But it's not just Washington either. It's state and local government, because they know that state and local officials can provide influence into Washington, can become a farm team for people to later get elected to national office, and in the meantime, can provide lots of concrete benefits, you know, tax breaks and subsidies and land grants and so forth. When you're trying to recruit Chinese businesses into America. So at every level, from the city hall all the way to the white House, China is trying to infiltrate and influence our government. GUY BENSON: And also just the country as well. In terms of surveillance infrastructure in the United States. I know a lot of us talked about the Chinese spy balloon, which was a disturbing incident. It was very brazen on their part, kind of clumsy compared to a lot of the things that they're engaged in and their subterfuge. But some of the elements of what they're trying, and it's not just in the U.S., it's in other Western countries as well. They want to basically wire their surveillance into our national infrastructure, and that's beyond on screens through TikTok and things like that. I'm talking about like CCTV, right? SEN. TOM COTTON: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, one good example guy is the fight we had against Wall Wei, the Chinese telecom giant, a few years ago. They are a massive company. They provide handsets like, you know, smart phones. They also provide kind of a backbone for, communications networks. And it just so happens that Wall Wei had sold a bunch of inexpensive devices to rural telephone companies who, just conveniently enough, located throughout the Mountain West and the northern Great Plains, where a lot of our nuclear missile bases and silos are located. And and this is an example of what I mean about how Chinese influence is pervasive. We heard from the owners of many of those companies about how hard it would be to take away devices out of their networks, and that it could be potentially catastrophic losses for them. Now, those people were not witting agents of the Chinese Communist Party. In my experience, almost all of them were great, patriotic Americans who were providing good services to their communities and good high paying jobs for their workers. But they had become dependent unwittingly on Chinese communist influence companies. GUY BENSON: Yeah, they burrow in, right? They embed themselves. They should try to make it as hard to extract them as possible. And that includes TikTok. I mean, just to go down that path for a second here at Senator, since this book is about China and the threat there, I mean, I see that we have Google and Apple once again restoring TikTok to those app stores. The law that was passed and is the law of the land right now forbids that. I know that there's this brief grace period where President Trump has basically signed a waiver into existence, but I didn't realize that superseded the ban on this from our app stores. It just seems like enough people were annoyed enough about TikTok that we're ignoring the law that we passed. SEN. TOM COTTON: Yeah, I mean, I think it would have been better let the law go into effect on the day before President Trump took office and leave it. In effect, that would have kept the pressure on TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, the sale and cut ties entirely from China. The whole point of the law is not to ban TikTok in America, it's to force its sale from a Chinese communist influence company. So I can't be used by the communist against us. GUY BENSON: Is that still realistic? Do you think that still might happen? SEN. TOM COTTON: I think that the president's goal is to comply with the law as it's written, during this short period of non enforcement. I think the companies should follow the law because there's liability they face. Beyond just Department of Justice Enforcement. But all that said, what we wanted all along is not to ban Tik Tok, but to get Tik Tok completely severed from Chinese communist, because I recognize that other social media platforms also can cause harm to Americans. But it's a horse of a different color when it's being purposely done by our main adversary. Now I hear people saying that, oh, it's just, you know, kids, data wouldn't matter. Well, kids grow up pretty fast. Yeah, of course there are adults on the platform too. But those kids do become adults, and they take jobs and law enforcement and military and intelligence and sensitive industrial posts. I've also heard what the you know, the content is mostly harmless and a lot of the content is harmless. You know, cat videos or how to videos about home repair or cooking, and that's fine. But there's a lot of content. It's harmful. And it's specifically directed at America's kids to encourage girls to have eating disorders or negative body images to show boys the most obscene kinds of pornography or graphic violence, to encourage drug use, or even glamorized suicide for kids when they express sad or depressive thoughts. Of course, it's also a tool of Chinese propaganda. That's why you see the overwhelming amount of anti-Semitic content on TikTok. Unlike anything you see on any other social media app. And finally, you can't. It's just like. I mean, you can't learn anything on TikTok about China, about Tiananmen Square, about Tibet or about Hong Kong and so on and so forth. So it remains a real and genuine danger to America, especially to our kids. GUY BENSON: It's information warfare, and it's sitting in the pockets of millions and millions and millions of Americans right now. And I shudder to think how especially the propaganda side, because the data side can definitely be leveraged down the line for blackmail and all sorts of other things. But propaganda on a mass scale, directly in front of the eyeballs of especially young Americans, the way they could turn that spigot on if and when they choose to. Beyond what they've already done, that is what is so highly concerning, which is why this is something we've watched so closely. And it leads to that second point I wanted to explore just a little bit from your book. China is preparing for war. That's a scary thing to hear, right? It's a giant country, more than a billion people. A very evil ideology, at least at the very top from the regime. When you hear a U.S. senator with lots of insight into intelligence and that sort of thing. Warning that our biggest adversary in the world is preparing for war. I guess the question is for war. Against whom are you talking about? Taiwan? Some sort of expansionist war? Are you talking about a war against us or just girding generally here? What is the warning? SEN. TOM COTTON: Well, the highest point in the world is over Taiwan. And the People's Liberation Army has been preparing for decades to invade or blockade, or both Taiwan occupy, occupied and ultimately annex it to the mainland. Now they know, as any sensible person knows, that if Taiwan is left to its own, it can't defend itself against China indefinitely. It's an island of about 25 million people. China has about 1.4 billion people. That's why we've always armed Taiwan. It's why I argue in the book that the only, the only sensible outcome to a potential conflict over Taiwan is not to fight it in the first place, to deter it from happening. But that's harder now than it once was, because China has undertaken the biggest military buildup in history. It's, increased their own spending by more than 1,000%. The their military is more than double our size. Their army is more than double our size. One of their shipyards, just one, can produce more ships for their navy than all of our shipyards combined. So there's no question that China has been preparing for a war over Taiwan, not just or primarily to be able to conquer Taiwan, which they know they could eventually do. It was just fought out one on one, but rather to keep America out of the war and to defeat us if we enter the war. That's why it's so important that we build up our military, specifically with the capabilities needed to deter China from going for the jugular in the first place. Because if you had a war of any kind, even if it was inconclusive or stalemate and China didn't achieve its goals, you'd still have immediate Great Depression around the globe. Stock markets would collapse, life savings would be lost, jobs would be lost, shelves in stores in America would be empty. To say nothing of the thousands of lives that we would lose for our troops, hundreds of aircrafts and ships and so forth. We have to be strong. We have to Taiwan be strong to prevent that war from ever happening. GUY BENSON: Speaking of a stalemated war and an outcome that I think Beijing will be highly interested to watch. You've got Russia and you've got Ukraine. And now these very initial conversations and negotiations around how that conflict might come to a close. And I know the Ukrainians seem to be alarmed that at least at the very first stages here, they have not been included in a conversation between the U.S. and Russia. You've got Europeans also expressing consternation about that. President Trump has made clear that the Ukrainians, of course, will be part of these conversations. I don't want to see any sort of outcome imposed upon Ukraine. That's what the Russians already tried with their unjustified war of aggression. They tried to impose an outcome on Ukraine, basically the taking over of that country. Unfortunately, the Russians have largely failed. But hundreds of thousands of people are dead. Almost everyone would like to see an outcome and peace, but a peace that sustainable for Ukrainian security and sovereignty moving forward. That gives an off ramp to the Russians without rewarding them for what they did. Are you worried about the way this is shaping up. Are you encouraged by the early talks? How should this play out? SEN. TOM COTTON: Well, I think it's important to recognize the reality in Ukraine is mess right now is a mess because of Joe Biden. His weakness tempted Putin to invade in the first place. He pussyfoot it around for three years. And it's clear in retrospect now that his strategy all along was to lose the war, just lose it after the election. And that's the rally that that we all have to deal with. My understanding is the talks in Riyadh today are about reestablishing channels, with Russia. That's obviously going to be necessary for any kind of negotiations about a ceasefire. And as you said, that President Trump intends to once we reestablish those channels and maybe establish some contours or parameters to have, Vladimir Zelensky's representatives sit down as well. And I think what we have to hope for is a durable and lasting truce that prevents or protects what JD Vance said last week in Europe, Ukraine's sovereign independence and prevents a third Russian invasion of Ukraine. We've had the first and the second already on the last two Democratic presidents watches. We don't want to have a third invasion in the future. So if we can get that kind of durable truce that protects Ukraine's sovereign independence and that reliably prevents a third invasion, I think right now, given where we are after three years of failed Biden policy, that that might be a good outcome for Ukraine, for the United States, for the, for the world. GUY BENSON: How much, say, should Ukraine have in what's a good outcome for them? Because I think one of the concerns is Trump made this promise we're going to end the war. And if he's willing to give, let's say, by Zelensky's estimation, too many concessions to Putin. He might he might balk at that. And then what right is it too premature to talk about that outcome or that that possibility at least? SEN. TOM COTTON: No. I mean, President Zelensky said that he has a good relationship with President Trump and he trust President Trump. And I think he's going to communicate where those red lines are for him, what he thinks is necessary. I think he's probably realistic about where the war is right now and what Ukraine needs to do to protect itself, protect its future, and prevent a future invasion. So I don't want to prejudge the negotiations or say what Ukraine should or should not do. You never know what kind of trade offs might be offered by both sides. But I do think that President Zelensky trusts President Trump, or they've had a positive relationship for a long time. And that he understands that what President Trump wants is a durable and lasting truce that protects Ukraine's sovereign independence and prevents a renewal of the fighting or a future invasion. GUY BENSON: Senator Tom cotton A few other things here. Yesterday marked the five year anniversary of a Washington Post headline attacking you for spreading conspiracy theories about the lab leak out of Wuhan. Of course, you've been vindicated on that point many times over. I just am curious, have you ever heard from any of the journalists or public health bureaucrats or anyone else who raked you over the coals for what you were saying back then, even privately, a reach out saying, hey, sorry about that. SEN. TOM COTTON: Hardly. I do write about that, though. And, some things you can't say about China. It is a five year anniversary, I think, this week that I first said, you know, that the coronavirus pandemic probably came from the lab where they research coronaviruses, and the director is nicknamed the bat lady, and they have notoriously bad safety practice, not some food market that doesn't have bats in a city that doesn't have bats. Right? I mean, you would expect Chinese Communist officials to, come down on me like a ton of bricks. It's no big deal. But I think a lot of Americans would be surprised that The Washington Post and CNN and the New York Times and other citadels of American culture and media and opinion making did the same. It's just what I've been talking about earlier with you, and what I write about in the book is that China has massive influence and leverage throughout our society, and people who are always ready to manned the ramparts on behalf of Communist China. GUY BENSON: Elbridge Colby is a nominee from President Trump for a key position at the Pentagon. This dispute has apparently spilled out into public view, where you've now seen the vice president getting involved. The president's son put out a piece today. There's this allegation that you're working to scuttle the nomination behind the scenes. Or at least you're expressing concerns about that nomination. What's actually going on here? SEN. TOM COTTON: No. Guy, what I do on every nomination is to make sure that the nominees are in alignment with the president, especially on critical national security, jobs and national security policies. And that I think that they're going to pursue the shared objectives that I have with President Trump. So, for instance, for every nominee in the Department of Defense, Department of State, Intelligence community, if they would play any role, preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons, I want to make sure that they share the president's opinion on that, and they will advance the president's policy that we cannot allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, that we cannot hope to contain a nuclear Iran. So I've done that with past nominees. I'll continue to do it with all nominees going forward on that and other issues. And also outside of the context of national security, you know, consider Bobby Kennedy, he was pro-choice the entire life. But I pressed him in private, and then he testified in public that he would support and uphold and advance the president's pro-life policy. So this is all just a normal part of the process. GUY BENSON: One more on a nominee. It's Lori Chavez Dreamer, the labor secretary designate from President Trump. A lot of conservatives very worried about her record, specifically on labor issues. The former Republican congresswoman from Oregon. Have you looked into some of her positions, like very, very left wing positions at the Proact and that sort of thing? Do you have questions about her nomination? SEN. TOM COTTON: I have Guy, and again, this is a good example of what I'm talking about, just like with Bobby Kennedy and abortion. She introduced legislation in the House that would override state right to work laws, compel people to join unions and pay dues into them, without their consent. I obviously can't support that. I don't support it. Arkansas has one of the best right to work laws in the country. I met with Lori. She made it clear that what she did as a representative for her own district in Oregon is different than what she'll do as President Trump's secretary of Labor. That's President Trump. Support state right to work law, if she will, as well. I also, am concerned about the Biden administration's efforts to shut down so-called 14 seat workshops. These are the sheltered workshops that allow developmentally disabled adults to get outside the house to find meaningful work, to make friends, to have the satisfaction of being a productive, contributing citizen. The left and unions hate them. I made sure that Laurie understands that we have a lot of them in Arkansas, and I want to protect them. She's prepared to commit to that. Of course. I want to see her make those commitments in public at her hearing this week. But that's all a normal part of the process. GUY BENSON: Finally, Senator, Hamas, the terrorist organization, at least now claiming that they have killed those two babies that have been held hostage for so long, or at least that they're dead and they were taken alive. And if, in fact, Hamas is not lying about this, if those children are dead, that would be yet more blood, specifically of children on their hands. Just a nightmare for the people of Israel, for that family specifically. A lot of people have been heartsick over that particular family over this ordeal. What would it say yet again, screaming loudly about Hamas if in fact, these children are dead. SEN. TOM COTTON: To Hamas as monstrous terrorists, and that we cannot live in a world in which Hamas still controls a single inch of territory, certainly not on Israel's border. It also gets back to the point we were talking about earlier, about Iran ever getting nuclear weapons. Iran already patronized this. Hamas and Hezbollah already provided them with weapons and training and financing, and that's without a nuclear umbrella. Imagine what they would do with a nuclear umbrella. So we have to support Israel. We have to back them to the hilt in fighting to destroy Hamas. We have to make sure Israel or Iran never goes nuclear. And that's not just an Israel issue that is dangerous to Israel, but that's a United States issue, because Iran is also building ballistic missiles that could reach the United States, just like North Korea did. So there's a reason why Iran calls Israel the little Satan and calls us the Great Satan. GUY BENSON: And one of Iran's strategic partners is China. And that burgeoning, very serious threat to us, to global security, to Western values, is one that has to be spoken about very clearly. We can't avoid some of the difficult truths, and that involves saying things out loud that need to be said, including things that you're supposed to not say apparently, about China, seven of which are enumerated in the brand new book by our guest, Tom cotton. Seven Things You can't Say about China. He says them. He explains them. He expounds upon them. And I recommend that you read this book because it's hard to imagine. It's hard to conceive of a more serious topic. U.S. Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, our guest here on the Guy Benson Show. Senator, we so appreciate your time. Best of luck with the book. We look forward to talking again. SEN. TOM COTTON: Thank you very much, Guy. GUY BENSON: You bet. GUY BENSON: Happy hour time on the Guy Benson Show on this Tuesday. Thanks for joining us. Guy Benson is our website where all sorts of things are available. Lots of content, including the podcast. Free on demand every day. Yes. No charge at all. Guy Benson Show, dot com, Fox News or wherever you get your podcasts. This radio hour sponsored by the Finnish Long drink. Delicious and refreshing. Please drink responsibly 21 plus only the long drink. Com. I'm happy to welcome back to the show. Now, United States Senator Tom cotton, Republican from Arkansas. He's out with a new book, Seven Things You Can't Say About China. Senator, welcome back to the show. SEN. TOM COTTON: Hey, Guy, it's great to be on with you. Thanks for having me. GUY BENSON: I want to talk about news of the day and politics and all of that. But before we get to any of it, let's focus on this new book, seven Things You Can't Say About China. We only have so much time, so I don't want to run through all seven. I am particularly interested in a few of the points that you make. If you can just maybe give a taste of what your book explains and reports for our audience. One of them is China is preparing for war. If you can get into the details there. And then, perhaps relatedly, another one is China has infiltrated our government. That is a scary claim. I think it's undeniably true in certain respects. Why don't we start there when you assert that China, the CCP, the Chinese Communist Party has infiltrated our the U.S. government? What do you mean? SEN. TOM COTTON: Yeah. Well, first guy, it's important to note one of the other things I say you can't say about China and that's that it's waging an economic world war, and it has been for several decades against the United States. And the reason that is so important is that the the power and the wealth that China has built up has allowed it to underwrite that rapid military buildup that has preparing for war. It's also allowed it to infiltrate our society and our government. So, as I say, in the chapter about China infiltrating our government, yes. China uses just traditional spy methods. Think about, you know, what you saw in the Cold War from period pieces like The Americans or spy fiction? But that's not just history that's actually happening today in Washington with Chinese spies. But that's far from the only thing they're doing. They're trying to infiltrate our military with old fashioned spies. They're recruiting veterans to help train their military. They're launching cyber attacks against our defense industry. That's one reason why the People's Liberation Army aircraft looks strange. And like American aircraft, they're trying to buy land up around sensitive military sites, but they're also engaged deeply in the Washington Swamp, again, not just to traditional spies, but to trying to influence politicians. You may recall that Bill Clinton's campaign get almost $3 million and had to return, and criminal cases were brought against Chinese influence agents. China is adept at putting, Chinese spies around politicians. Think about Dianne Feinstein, driver, or Eric Swalwell, supporter, who he later had apparently a romantic relationship with. And also maybe even more pervasive is what I call the new China lobby, people who are working on behalf of Chinese interest and Chinese companies, which are almost always linked back to the Chinese Communist Party. These are former lawmakers of both parties, former aides of leaders in both parties. There's also people going back in the government. You know, I remember in the Biden administration, you had the general counsel at the CIA and the director of national intelligence. Both had worked as lawyers for Chinese interest at their law firms. And their defense was well, the cases came to us. Well, you know, these liberal law firms for what? You turn down cases depending on tobacco companies or oil and gas companies. But apparently you're compelled to work on behalf of Chinese communist interests. So. So China has extended its influence to Washington. But it's not just Washington either. It's state and local government, because they know that state and local officials can provide influence into Washington, can become a farm team for people to later get elected to national office, and in the meantime, can provide lots of concrete benefits, you know, tax breaks and subsidies and land grants and so forth. When you're trying to recruit Chinese businesses into America. So at every level, from the city hall all the way to the white House, China is trying to infiltrate and influence our government. GUY BENSON: And also just the country as well. In terms of surveillance infrastructure in the United States. I know a lot of us talked about the Chinese spy balloon, which was a disturbing incident. It was very brazen on their part, kind of clumsy compared to a lot of the things that they're engaged in and their subterfuge. But some of the elements of what they're trying, and it's not just in the U.S., it's in other Western countries as well. They want to basically wire their surveillance into our national infrastructure, and that's beyond on screens through TikTok and things like that. I'm talking about like CCTV, right? SEN. TOM COTTON: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, one good example guy is the fight we had against Wall Wei, the Chinese telecom giant, a few years ago. They are a massive company. They provide handsets like, you know, smart phones. They also provide kind of a backbone for, communications networks. And it just so happens that Wall Wei had sold a bunch of inexpensive devices to rural telephone companies who, just conveniently enough, located throughout the Mountain West and the northern Great Plains, where a lot of our nuclear missile bases and silos are located. And and this is an example of what I mean about how Chinese influence is pervasive. We heard from the owners of many of those companies about how hard it would be to take away devices out of their networks, and that it could be potentially catastrophic losses for them. Now, those people were not witting agents of the Chinese Communist Party. In my experience, almost all of them were great, patriotic Americans who were providing good services to their communities and good high paying jobs for their workers. But they had become dependent unwittingly on Chinese communist influence companies. GUY BENSON: Yeah, they burrow in, right? They embed themselves. They should try to make it as hard to extract them as possible. And that includes TikTok. I mean, just to go down that path for a second here at Senator, since this book is about China and the threat there, I mean, I see that we have Google and Apple once again restoring TikTok to those app stores. The law that was passed and is the law of the land right now forbids that. I know that there's this brief grace period where President Trump has basically signed a waiver into existence, but I didn't realize that superseded the ban on this from our app stores. It just seems like enough people were annoyed enough about TikTok that we're ignoring the law that we passed. SEN. TOM COTTON: Yeah, I mean, I think it would have been better let the law go into effect on the day before President Trump took office and leave it. In effect, that would have kept the pressure on TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, the sale and cut ties entirely from China. The whole point of the law is not to ban TikTok in America, it's to force its sale from a Chinese communist influence company. So I can't be used by the communist against us. GUY BENSON: Is that still realistic? Do you think that still might happen? SEN. TOM COTTON: I think that the president's goal is to comply with the law as it's written, during this short period of non enforcement. I think the companies should follow the law because there's liability they face. Beyond just Department of Justice Enforcement. But all that said, what we wanted all along is not to ban Tik Tok, but to get Tik Tok completely severed from Chinese communist, because I recognize that other social media platforms also can cause harm to Americans. But it's a horse of a different color when it's being purposely done by our main adversary. Now I hear people saying that, oh, it's just, you know, kids, data wouldn't matter. Well, kids grow up pretty fast. Yeah, of course there are adults on the platform too. But those kids do become adults, and they take jobs and law enforcement and military and intelligence and sensitive industrial posts. I've also heard what the you know, the content is mostly harmless and a lot of the content is harmless. You know, cat videos or how to videos about home repair or cooking, and that's fine. But there's a lot of content. It's harmful. And it's specifically directed at America's kids to encourage girls to have eating disorders or negative body images to show boys the most obscene kinds of pornography or graphic violence, to encourage drug use, or even glamorized suicide for kids when they express sad or depressive thoughts. Of course, it's also a tool of Chinese propaganda. That's why you see the overwhelming amount of anti-Semitic content on TikTok. Unlike anything you see on any other social media app. And finally, you can't. It's just like. I mean, you can't learn anything on TikTok about China, about Tiananmen Square, about Tibet or about Hong Kong and so on and so forth. So it remains a real and genuine danger to America, especially to our kids. GUY BENSON: It's information warfare, and it's sitting in the pockets of millions and millions and millions of Americans right now. And I shudder to think how especially the propaganda side, because the data side can definitely be leveraged down the line for blackmail and all sorts of other things. But propaganda on a mass scale, directly in front of the eyeballs of especially young Americans, the way they could turn that spigot on if and when they choose to. Beyond what they've already done, that is what is so highly concerning, which is why this is something we've watched so closely. And it leads to that second point I wanted to explore just a little bit from your book. China is preparing for war. That's a scary thing to hear, right? It's a giant country, more than a billion people. A very evil ideology, at least at the very top from the regime. When you hear a U.S. senator with lots of insight into intelligence and that sort of thing. Warning that our biggest adversary in the world is preparing for war. I guess the question is for war. Against whom are you talking about? Taiwan? Some sort of expansionist war? Are you talking about a war against us or just girding generally here? What is the warning? SEN. TOM COTTON: Well, the highest point in the world is over Taiwan. And the People's Liberation Army has been preparing for decades to invade or blockade, or both Taiwan occupy, occupied and ultimately annex it to the mainland. Now they know, as any sensible person knows, that if Taiwan is left to its own, it can't defend itself against China indefinitely. It's an island of about 25 million people. China has about 1.4 billion people. That's why we've always armed Taiwan. It's why I argue in the book that the only, the only sensible outcome to a potential conflict over Taiwan is not to fight it in the first place, to deter it from happening. But that's harder now than it once was, because China has undertaken the biggest military buildup in history. It's, increased their own spending by more than 1,000%. The their military is more than double our size. Their army is more than double our size. One of their shipyards, just one, can produce more ships for their navy than all of our shipyards combined. So there's no question that China has been preparing for a war over Taiwan, not just or primarily to be able to conquer Taiwan, which they know they could eventually do. It was just fought out one on one, but rather to keep America out of the war and to defeat us if we enter the war. That's why it's so important that we build up our military, specifically with the capabilities needed to deter China from going for the jugular in the first place. Because if you had a war of any kind, even if it was inconclusive or stalemate and China didn't achieve its goals, you'd still have immediate Great Depression around the globe. Stock markets would collapse, life savings would be lost, jobs would be lost, shelves in stores in America would be empty. To say nothing of the thousands of lives that we would lose for our troops, hundreds of aircrafts and ships and so forth. We have to be strong. We have to Taiwan be strong to prevent that war from ever happening. GUY BENSON: Speaking of a stalemated war and an outcome that I think Beijing will be highly interested to watch. You've got Russia and you've got Ukraine. And now these very initial conversations and negotiations around how that conflict might come to a close. And I know the Ukrainians seem to be alarmed that at least at the very first stages here, they have not been included in a conversation between the U.S. and Russia. You've got Europeans also expressing consternation about that. President Trump has made clear that the Ukrainians, of course, will be part of these conversations. I don't want to see any sort of outcome imposed upon Ukraine. That's what the Russians already tried with their unjustified war of aggression. They tried to impose an outcome on Ukraine, basically the taking over of that country. Unfortunately, the Russians have largely failed. But hundreds of thousands of people are dead. Almost everyone would like to see an outcome and peace, but a peace that sustainable for Ukrainian security and sovereignty moving forward. That gives an off ramp to the Russians without rewarding them for what they did. Are you worried about the way this is shaping up. Are you encouraged by the early talks? How should this play out? SEN. TOM COTTON: Well, I think it's important to recognize the reality in Ukraine is mess right now is a mess because of Joe Biden. His weakness tempted Putin to invade in the first place. He pussyfoot it around for three years. And it's clear in retrospect now that his strategy all along was to lose the war, just lose it after the election. And that's the rally that that we all have to deal with. My understanding is the talks in Riyadh today are about reestablishing channels, with Russia. That's obviously going to be necessary for any kind of negotiations about a ceasefire. And as you said, that President Trump intends to once we reestablish those channels and maybe establish some contours or parameters to have, Vladimir Zelensky's representatives sit down as well. And I think what we have to hope for is a durable and lasting truce that prevents or protects what JD Vance said last week in Europe, Ukraine's sovereign independence and prevents a third Russian invasion of Ukraine. We've had the first and the second already on the last two Democratic presidents watches. We don't want to have a third invasion in the future. So if we can get that kind of durable truce that protects Ukraine's sovereign independence and that reliably prevents a third invasion, I think right now, given where we are after three years of failed Biden policy, that that might be a good outcome for Ukraine, for the United States, for the, for the world. GUY BENSON: How much, say, should Ukraine have in what's a good outcome for them? Because I think one of the concerns is Trump made this promise we're going to end the war. And if he's willing to give, let's say, by Zelensky's estimation, too many concessions to Putin. He might he might balk at that. And then what right is it too premature to talk about that outcome or that that possibility at least? SEN. TOM COTTON: No. I mean, President Zelensky said that he has a good relationship with President Trump and he trust President Trump. And I think he's going to communicate where those red lines are for him, what he thinks is necessary. I think he's probably realistic about where the war is right now and what Ukraine needs to do to protect itself, protect its future, and prevent a future invasion. So I don't want to prejudge the negotiations or say what Ukraine should or should not do. You never know what kind of trade offs might be offered by both sides. But I do think that President Zelensky trusts President Trump, or they've had a positive relationship for a long time. And that he understands that what President Trump wants is a durable and lasting truce that protects Ukraine's sovereign independence and prevents a renewal of the fighting or a future invasion. GUY BENSON: Senator Tom cotton A few other things here. Yesterday marked the five year anniversary of a Washington Post headline attacking you for spreading conspiracy theories about the lab leak out of Wuhan. Of course, you've been vindicated on that point many times over. I just am curious, have you ever heard from any of the journalists or public health bureaucrats or anyone else who raked you over the coals for what you were saying back then, even privately, a reach out saying, hey, sorry about that. SEN. TOM COTTON: Hardly. I do write about that, though. And, some things you can't say about China. It is a five year anniversary, I think, this week that I first said, you know, that the coronavirus pandemic probably came from the lab where they research coronaviruses, and the director is nicknamed the bat lady, and they have notoriously bad safety practice, not some food market that doesn't have bats in a city that doesn't have bats. Right? I mean, you would expect Chinese Communist officials to, come down on me like a ton of bricks. It's no big deal. But I think a lot of Americans would be surprised that The Washington Post and CNN and the New York Times and other citadels of American culture and media and opinion making did the same. It's just what I've been talking about earlier with you, and what I write about in the book is that China has massive influence and leverage throughout our society, and people who are always ready to manned the ramparts on behalf of Communist China. GUY BENSON: Elbridge Colby is a nominee from President Trump for a key position at the Pentagon. This dispute has apparently spilled out into public view, where you've now seen the vice president getting involved. The president's son put out a piece today. There's this allegation that you're working to scuttle the nomination behind the scenes. Or at least you're expressing concerns about that nomination. What's actually going on here? SEN. TOM COTTON: No. Guy, what I do on every nomination is to make sure that the nominees are in alignment with the president, especially on critical national security, jobs and national security policies. And that I think that they're going to pursue the shared objectives that I have with President Trump. So, for instance, for every nominee in the Department of Defense, Department of State, Intelligence community, if they would play any role, preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons, I want to make sure that they share the president's opinion on that, and they will advance the president's policy that we cannot allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, that we cannot hope to contain a nuclear Iran. So I've done that with past nominees. I'll continue to do it with all nominees going forward on that and other issues. And also outside of the context of national security, you know, consider Bobby Kennedy, he was pro-choice the entire life. But I pressed him in private, and then he testified in public that he would support and uphold and advance the president's pro-life policy. So this is all just a normal part of the process. GUY BENSON: One more on a nominee. It's Lori Chavez Dreamer, the labor secretary designate from President Trump. A lot of conservatives very worried about her record, specifically on labor issues. The former Republican congresswoman from Oregon. Have you looked into some of her positions, like very, very left wing positions at the Proact and that sort of thing? Do you have questions about her nomination? SEN. TOM COTTON: I have Guy, and again, this is a good example of what I'm talking about, just like with Bobby Kennedy and abortion. She introduced legislation in the House that would override state right to work laws, compel people to join unions and pay dues into them, without their consent. I obviously can't support that. I don't support it. Arkansas has one of the best right to work laws in the country. I met with Lori. She made it clear that what she did as a representative for her own district in Oregon is different than what she'll do as President Trump's secretary of Labor. That's President Trump. Support state right to work law, if she will, as well. I also, am concerned about the Biden administration's efforts to shut down so-called 14 seat workshops. These are the sheltered workshops that allow developmentally disabled adults to get outside the house to find meaningful work, to make friends, to have the satisfaction of being a productive, contributing citizen. The left and unions hate them. I made sure that Laurie understands that we have a lot of them in Arkansas, and I want to protect them. She's prepared to commit to that. Of course. I want to see her make those commitments in public at her hearing this week. But that's all a normal part of the process. GUY BENSON: Finally, Senator, Hamas, the terrorist organization, at least now claiming that they have killed those two babies that have been held hostage for so long, or at least that they're dead and they were taken alive. And if, in fact, Hamas is not lying about this, if those children are dead, that would be yet more blood, specifically of children on their hands. Just a nightmare for the people of Israel, for that family specifically. A lot of people have been heartsick over that particular family over this ordeal. What would it say yet again, screaming loudly about Hamas if in fact, these children are dead. SEN. TOM COTTON: To Hamas as monstrous terrorists, and that we cannot live in a world in which Hamas still controls a single inch of territory, certainly not on Israel's border. It also gets back to the point we were talking about earlier, about Iran ever getting nuclear weapons. Iran already patronized this. Hamas and Hezbollah already provided them with weapons and training and financing, and that's without a nuclear umbrella. Imagine what they would do with a nuclear umbrella. So we have to support Israel. We have to back them to the hilt in fighting to destroy Hamas. We have to make sure Israel or Iran never goes nuclear. And that's not just an Israel issue that is dangerous to Israel, but that's a United States issue, because Iran is also building ballistic missiles that could reach the United States, just like North Korea did. So there's a reason why Iran calls Israel the little Satan and calls us the Great Satan. GUY BENSON: And one of Iran's strategic partners is China. And that burgeoning, very serious threat to us, to global security, to Western values, is one that has to be spoken about very clearly. We can't avoid some of the difficult truths, and that involves saying things out loud that need to be said, including things that you're supposed to not say apparently, about China, seven of which are enumerated in the brand new book by our guest, Tom cotton. Seven Things You can't Say about China. He says them. He explains them. He expounds upon them. And I recommend that you read this book because it's hard to imagine. It's hard to conceive of a more serious topic. U.S. Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, our guest here on the Guy Benson Show. Senator, we so appreciate your time. Best of luck with the book. We look forward to talking again. SEN. TOM COTTON: Thank you very much, Guy. Going to be okay. GUY BENSON: You bet. We'll take a break. We'll be right back on the Guy Benson show. Miss a minute? Miss a lot. The Guy Benson show.
