Red Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win, Peter Schweizer, author; Charles Constant, narrator
Peter Schweizer has written many books revealing corruption in the government. In this book, he carefully details and exposes the corruption of both parties, Democrat and Republican, and everything in between, when it comes to enriching themselves, vis a vis China. He names names, corporations, private companies, lawyers, lobbyists and Chinese officials that the readers will surely recognize, as they learn about the ways in which they have used their influence overtly and/or subtly, to influence trade, industrial development and expansion in China, and in the process, also enrich themselves, their family, friends, and associates.
Although much of what Schweizer illustrates or reveals, was already out in the cyberspace, by the time the book was published, it was not generally known to those who do not actively look into the Chinese way of doing business, the lives of Congressmen and women after they leave office, the way the major corporations have their fingers in Chinese pies, or the way that companies are completely controlled and regulated by China, in order to do business there. Those people involved, allow China to spy on their records and eventually have to prostitute themselves to do business there, often behaving like hypocrites, working at cross purposes to the United States as they accept China’s violations of human rights and corrupt business practices, and as they actively protest against far less abuses in the United States. Often, their own positions are compromised or they are even personally spied upon by agents and used in the service of China, as they seek to further their own image and business acumen. Every major technology company, every influential Congressperson, every business that sought to gain advantage in China has had to compromise their souls to do it, accepting draconian rules, ignoring abuses, and pretending to be blind to anything that China did in order to advance their own selfish purposes, regardless of whether or not the requirements to do business there would be legal in the United States.
When prominent men and women retire from influential positions in business or government, they are often sought after and employed by China to enhance China’s ability to compete with America. China steals our secrets and it seems that some are happy to help them, under the guise of operating successful businesses there, or of offering advice, or while serving on boards, or otherwise aiding China’s efforts to surpass America. For that purpose, they are paid well to turn a blind eye to things that would cause massive protests in the United States, protests which they would actively have supported in the past. If they are still influential in America, they often spin the problems they encounter to benefit themselves and ignore the obvious benefit to China, as they pretend that the human rights abuses and unfair business practices do not concern them. In this way, ordinary citizens in the United States are kept in the dark and are treated as if they are too dumb to see what is happening, too naïve to recognize the two-faced behavior of those individuals amassing great wealth at America’s, and therefore, their expense.
The reader will recognize the names of tech giant CEO’s, Gates, Zuckerberg, Dorsey, Schmidt, Musk, of Corporations like Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, Twitter, Facebook, Google, Alibaba, Tesla, and Huawei, of Democrats and Republicans, Ambassadors and Military Officers, members of Congress like Schumer, Biden, Chao and McConnell, Clinton, Pelosi, Bush, of Kissinger, Trudeau, and so many more. From the first efforts of former President Nixon to open up trade with China, the only government official who not only recognized China’s deceit, but actively tried to reign in China’s espionage and business blackmail, was former President Trump, but the Swamp defeated him. Our current President actually allowed his son to actively pursue business, not only with China, but with other countries, in order to benefit himself because of his father’s identity. He amassed great wealth, although he had no skills to offer but his name.
Reading the book, one realizes that controlling China’s covert practices and American cooperation with them, could be an exercise in futility; one soon realizes that this practice of prostituting oneself in the service of an adversary, for personal benefit, will not soon be stopped. The prize, for the services rendered, is too great to dismiss for most people. The pot at the end of that rainbow is simply too great an offer for them to refuse.
Anyone who wishes to understand the way in which our wealthy and elite choose to advantage and corrupt themselves, should read this book. It is an eye-opener into the world of corruption that our rich and famous are willing to not only engage with, but to actively pursue, enrich, and actively participate in, regardless of the negative impact on the world.