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The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has for decades used intellectual property theft, currency manipulation, state subsidies, tariffs, and manipulations of the legal system to give Chinese companies an unfair edge over foreign companies. (1)
Behind this is its publicly stated goal to “catch up fast” and “surpass” the United States. (2)
Now that the Trump administration is going head-on to stop the CCP’s use of unfair trade practices, legacy news outlets have portrayed this like it’s a new phenomena. (3)
The idea of the “trade war” with China is presented like it’s new, when in reality it’s a war that has been taking place for decades, yet the United States has only now begun doing something about it. (4)
This historic amnesia is something of strategic value. For the CCP, it can use the public’s lack of clear understanding or forgetfulness of its past, to frame itself as the victim of a “Trump trade war.” (5)
And some of the legacy news outlets, which have a policy of absolute opposition to anything done by Trump, have been willing to play along with China’s charade to eliminate historical context. (6)
On April 28, the CCP pulled out a tactic to capitalize on the lack of clarity on its history of trade war: it simply denied it ever happened. (7)
Shen Changyu, head of the China’s National Intellectual Property Administration, said that critics of the CCP’s intellectual property policies “lack evidence.” (8)
“Some countries’ criticisms of China’s IP protection lack evidence and are non-specific,” he said, according to South China Morning Post. (9)
Of course, there is plenty of evidence. Estimates on the cost of China’s intellectual property theft against the United States are between $13 billion and $400 billion a year. Some estimates place the loss of economic value in the trillions. (10) theepochtimes.com/the-staggering…
The CCP has used a massive system—including military hackers, spies, researchers, students, and businesses—to steal intellectual property from American companies. (11) theepochtimes.com/investigative-…
This includes the infamous CCP military hackers, Unit 61398, who were indicted during the Obama administration for stealing U.S. intellectual property. (12) theepochtimes.com/wanted-posters…
While the CCP has since reorganized the military operations under its new Strategic Support Force, at the time Unit 61398 was just one of 22 known operational bureaus dedicated to similar operations. (13)
It was under the Third Department under the CCP’s warfighting department, the General Staff Department. The Third Department, which focused on cyber operations, worked with the Second Department which ran human spy networks. (14)
Since 1986, the CCP’s Project 863 has directed its policies for economic theft. Additional policies, such as its Torch Program, its 211 Program, and its 973 Program directed similar operations. (15) theepochtimes.com/stealing-corn-…
According to “China’s Industrial Espionage,” by William C. Hannas, et al, “Each of these programs looks to foreign collaboration and technologies to cover key gaps.” (16)
The CCP has since added its China 2025 policy to the mix, unveiled in 2015, which builds on Project 863. The program outlines 10 tech-related sectors for the CCP to dominate—by hook and by crook. (17) theepochtimes.com/why-china-will…
After intellectual property is stolen, the CCP reverse engineers it through its National Demonstration Organizations, also known as China’s National Technology Transfer Centers. The CCP launched these operations in 2001, and directed them more heavily in 2007 through policy. (18)
The CCP runs 202 of these transfer centers as “models for emulation by other transfer facilities.” (19) theepochtimes.com/china-security…
These include the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs under the State Council, the Science and Technology Office under the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, and the National Technology Transfer Center under the East China University of Science and Technology. (20)
“Their charters explicitly name ‘domestic and foreign technology’ as targets for ‘commercialization,'” states “China’s Industrial Espionage.” (21)
In addition to these operations, the CCP also runs large-scale networks for overt espionage under its United Front Department, which includes tapping networks for economic theft. It runs student groups such as the CSSAs to strategically place Chinese students. (22)
And the CCP has used state subsidies, legal punishments of foreign firms, and industrial espionage to undercut and disable foreign competition. (23) theepochtimes.com/china-pushing-…
An example of this is the CCP’s “Operation Night Dragon” cyberattacks, uncovered in 2013, which the CCP was using to spy on competitors in the energy industry enabling it to under-bid them on contracts. (24) theepochtimes.com/gas-lines-powe…
The CCP’s strategy to alter perceptions of the scope and impact of its aggressive intellectual property theft is simple, yet effective. (25)
Its operations for economic theft use a “death by 1,000 cuts” approach, and have a massive state system behind it—and it’s a crime that has been perpetrated against the United States for decades. (26)
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