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China’s “Unrestricted Warfare” policy is dependent on its ability to build and wield economic power. While every country has a right to compete economically, China sets itself apart by doing everything in its power to avoid a straightforward competition. The truth is that China continues to cheat economically. Western political and corporate leaders, scared of losing access to Chinese markets, do not call it out. This ineptitude on the part of U.S. leaders hurts the American people. China’s goal is to once again become the “Middle Kingdom” through which the world’s supply chains and finance markets run. In the process of attaining this goal, China dilutes the rule of law, weakens democratic institutions, and abuses global norms for trade in order to gain an edge against other competitors. The CCP aligns private profit with national interest, so that when Chinese businesses win, the CCP does as well.

Within China, the CCP maintains a tight grip on its domestic economy through an activist monetary policy and heavy state subsidies to support non-competitive state-owned-enterprises. Internationally, China is predatory. Its investments abroad are often destructive both for the environment and for local economies. China will use whatever tactics it needs, whether that be through fraudulent accounting or the utilization of debt traps to achieve its goals. At the end of the day, the international economic playing field is not even. China does not play by the same rules that Western countries do, and a failure to acknowledge this has greatly hurt the U.S. economically. The CCP cheats, lies, and steals when it suits itself, even as it wraps its actions in a rhetoric of globalization and “free market competition.”