This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Experts are sounding the alarm on China's increasingly aggressive trade deals in Latin America and South America as its ambition to become the world's largest economy has put the U.S. in a position where it must choose between the safety of Americans, and continued trade with China.
During an interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, American journalist, lawyer, political commentator, and writer Gordan Chang said China has used its influence to make deals with trading partners who used to be considered "America's backyard."
"A lot of Americans consider Latin America, South America, to be America's backyard. Well, it's really China's backyard. You know, China is South America's largest trading partner. If it weren't for Mexican trade with the U.S., China would be Latin America's biggest partner," Chang said.
Chang noted trade between the U.S. and South America could be improved if the U.S. is willing to enter into more free trade agreements with the region, and further stated this would help the U.S. decouple from China.
"We can win back this region with trade. We only have one free trade agreement with Central America and three with South America. If we tie trade to the United States, what we can do is we can free ourselves from China. We can end the migrant crisis. We can shorten our supply chains and clean the air. So what's not to like?" Chang asked.
The deadly fentanyl coming across the southern border, which has increased exponentially during President Joe Biden's time in office, is something Chang says was intentional and fully supported by the Chinese Communist Party.
"Killing tens of thousands of Americans every year… this a Communist Party project. This is not just some Chinese criminals because the Communist Party knows and it approves it and they support it… and all across the board [they] help."
Chang pointed out it is important to acknowledge that the drugs coming across the border are China's project, because it is backing the intentional murder of Americans. He then noted the U.S. needs to start imposing some severe costs to China.
"At least 60% tariffs on Chinese goods. You do that, you cripple China. You do not give them the opportunity and the resources to go after and kill Americans (with) fentanyl, with COVID, with everything else," Chang noted.
The U.S. China Economic and Security Review Commission recommends the U.S. toughen its trade relationship with China in its annual report to Congress. The Commission also wants the U.S. to end its permanent normal trade relationship with Beijing for the first time.
China currently gets accommodations through trade deals, because they continue to claim they are only an emerging economy, despite the fact China is the second largest economy in the entire world.
Bartiromo also questioned whether China is still "an emerging economy," and Chang noted China is obviously not an emerging economy, and further stated China should absolutely lose its normal trading relationship with the U.S. because it is using those deals to finance its military to one day fight against the U.S.
"That gives them basically everything that we give to everybody else. So it's reciprocity on steroids. The thing is, China uses all of this trade to develop its military, which is configured to kill Americans. They use it to support their fentanyl gangs. The list goes on and on."
While outwardly China has been talking about wanting "peace and prosperity" around the world, the reality is China is providing the means for other countries to wage war.
"They could not afford to assault us, would not be for our money, and by the way, you know Russia… couldn't continue the war in Ukraine without China's support. Iran could not have assaulted Israel without China's support. This is China behind all of these proxy wars, setting the world on fire, and we're financing it," Chang stressed.
China's economy is also on a "knife's edge," and while its economy continues to slump, China continues to build infrastructure like a massive high-speed rail system for future populations, when in fact, China's population has now dropped below recovery rates.
"They've got too much of everything. You know, the high speed rail line system, it is not economically viable on its own, and they're adding… more… They've got enough vacant apartments for 1.3 billion people. Basically they've got infrastructure for a country that is much larger than it actually is… [and] population is going to decline," Chang said.
China's population decline has been so dramatic over the past few decades due to the CCP's one-child policy, that it will likely never recover.
"By the end of this century, China probably will have only one-third the number of people that it has today. And I don't know how they're going to deal with this, because there's no solutions for them," Chang said.
