The CCP and Syrian nukes: an ominous warning

As I've spent the last few days discussing Communist China's appalling treatment of its own people and recent overseas intimidation, I'm sure at least a few readers have wondered about the relevance of this to the free world. Although I would think the persecution of exiles in democratic nations would be enough to draw concern, the "engagement" impulse runs deep (for the latest examples, see the BBC, the Epoch Times, and National Review Online). However, Communist China's repressive regime goes hand in hand with its frightening support for anti-American terrorists and their allies, including one of the largest underwriters of terrorism - the Syrian Ba'athist regime.

In yesterday's Epoch Times, experts discuss Syria's attempt to become a nuclear power - an attempt that Israel wiped out last year - and they see Communist China's fingerprints all over it (emphasis added):

Dr. Ronen Bergman, a journalist and the author of the coming book The Secret War With Iran, said: "I would say that in spite of the fact that the reactor that was bombed in Dir A-Zur, in Al Kibar, in Syria was North Korean reactor the basis of the Syrian nuclear knowledge are Chinese and China through out the years was helping research and supplying some know-how to the Syrians."

In other words, the Communist regime looked at Syria - an ally of the Iranian mullahcracy, a base for Hezbollah and Hamas, and a leading haven for anti-American terrorists operating in Iraq - and decided that helping it develop nuclear weapons would be an excellent idea. There is no better symbol of what the Chinese Communist Party thinks of the United States, the free world, and their enemies.

This isn't the first time a terrorist regime has found a friend in Communist China; in fact, it is merely the latest in a long history of Beijing reaching out to America's enemies, be it North Korea, Iran, Syria, Saddam Hussein, the Taliban, and yes, al Qaeda. The question now becomes, will the free world finally take notice?

After all, none of these links are accidental. The Chinese Communists learned from the failure of their Russian comrades that the West is no friend of a tyrant, even if it wishes to be. Thus the cadres know that their dissidents (BBC, Boycott 2008, Epoch Times, Washington Times, and World Net Daily) and citizens of occupied nations (BBC, Boycott 2008, CNN, and the Epoch Times) look to the United States as an example of the freedoms they could enjoy.

Moreover - and likely even more importantly - the cadres have exhausted every rationale for maintaining their regime except one: radical nationalism. Since the U.S. is not interested in allowing the Communists to do what is necessary to preserve that rationale (namely the conquest of Taiwan, the subjugation of Japan, and the removal of the U.S. as the leading superpower in Asia and throughout the world), America is a threat to the regime per se. This is why terrorists will find a willing supporter in Communist China - the more Americans they kill, the more useful they are to the cadres (especially since they are so willing to take the credit for it).

The approaching Olympic Games has caused the cadres some minor headaches (Boycott 2008), and has led some to ask several pointed questions about their objectives (Washington Post). These are questions that need to be asked, but we should not hold out hope for the answers. Communist China will continue to support anti-American terrorists, and so long as the response to the free world is similar to what One Free Korea discovered, they will continue to get away with it. That must change soon. The Syrian nuclear incident is a warning to all of us: American and her democratic allies will never be secure until China is free.

Cross-posted to the right-wing liberal