No Cold War With China
No Cold War With China
Anti-War Committee, November 2021
In recent months, we have seen an increase in US military action & intelligence operations geared towards raising tensions with China, as well as claims coming from the media and government characterizing the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as autocratic, oppressive, and an existential threat to US global dominance of trade and influence. The Anti-War Committee is committed to resisting all US military action and warmongering. We oppose the United States’ antagonistic actions and rhetoric toward The People’s Republic of China and call on our supporters to say: NO NEW COLD WAR WITH CHINA!
President Obama announced in 2012 the “Pivot to Asia,” a plan to shift US foreign policy from “fighting terrorism” in the Middle East to the economic and military containment of China. The United States’ military presence and interference in the region has increased with each successive administration, and this ramp-up has been accompanied by open insults and aggressive rhetoric from both Trump and Biden. U.S. special operations forces have been operating in Taiwan since at least November 2020, providing training for Taiwan’s military as well as conducting military exercises in the South China Sea, Philippine Sea, and Taiwan Strait involving combat ships, aircraft carriers, and nuclear-propelled submarines. One such submarine there collided with an uncharted seamount on October 2, injuring 11 crew members. Just two weeks earlier, the US, Australia, and the UK announced the ‘AUKUS’ pact to expand this same naval nuclear technology by sharing it with Australia. Australia’s obvious strategic location, the increase in other military activity in the area, and the gravity of the choice to expand nuclear knowledge make it clear that this alliance is intended to intimidate China. While there are regional territorial disputes in these waters, the diplomatic management of these disagreements is in the best interest of all nations involved. The US would rather undermine such diplomacy because it openly seeks to disrupt China’s trade. These sea operations create unnecessary dangers for both the ships’ crew members and the people of the nearby nations who rely on these waters as a resource and for trade, and introduce the terrifying prospect of active military confrontation between two nuclear powers.
At the same time, the United States has openly expanded CIA operations and other covert activities within China. On October 7, the CIA announced the formation of a new China mission center, pulling agents from around the world into China. This announcement followed the revelation that the CIA has lost record numbers of spies in China, and that China is nearly spyproof. In addition, United States-funded organizations with a long history of both funding & drumming up domestic support for regime change operations and terrorism across the world have been pumping millions of dollars into separatist groups in Tibet, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang under the guise of promoting ‘democracy’ and ‘human rights.’ While accusing China of these abuses, the US avoids accountability for its own horrific human rights record: the US engages in drone warfare & other crimes in the ‘War on Terror,’ continues holding untried political prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, and bankrolls Israeli war crimes in Palestine. US operations in China have no relation to human rights and only seek to promote US interest: preventing continued Chinese economic growth at any cost.
Just as the Anti-War Committee resisted the propaganda, lies & racism used to justify the War on Terror, we resist further escalation of dangerous tensions with China. No matter how we feel individually about the internal policies of China, we have seen time and time again that sanctions and covert and overt military aggression do not improve human rights in the countries that they target. We call on the anti-war movement to counter war propaganda and demand the US cease provocative military operations and withdraw intelligence agents. The Anti-War Committee demands: NO New Cold War With China!