A NEW Look at the Chinese Communist Party |
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Last week, after being named to Congress’ new China Task Force, Rep. Gallagher said, “Today we find ourselves in the midst of a generational struggle that threatens not only our national security, but the freedoms and values we hold as Americans.” While we’ve taken a NEW look at how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) seeks to dominate critical industries, or undermine allied countries like the United Kingdom and Australia, we need to go deeper: why has the threat posed by China grown so quickly, and how does it threaten our freedoms as Americans? Why should we be concerned about actions the CCP takes to restrict political freedoms, and how does that impact Northeast Wisconsin?
To explore these questions, Mike is joined by his good friend Oriana Skylar Mastro, an assistant professor of security studies at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and incoming Center Fellow at Stanford University's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. She’s well known for her expertise on Chinese military and security policy, and brings valuable insight into the evolution of U.S.-China relations and why it matters for Americans now more than ever. But during the conversation Oriana doesn’t just share her wisdom on China – she also details a number of life hacks, including the concept of “sacred writing time” and an upcoming blog about how to tackle “adulting.” Click HERE to watch the full conversation, or read some highlights below.
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Why it Matters to Northeast Wisconsin |
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Oriana Mastro: "They basically want to live in a world in which their preferences are accommodated above all else. That in capitals around the world, when they decide to do anything, the first question they ask is: "What will China think about this?" And the second question they ask is: "What will the United States think about this?" As Americans, we don't realize how much benefit we get from not only being very powerful, but by being the leader economically, politically, and militarily on the global stage. We get to decide what the rules are. That makes things a lot more convenient for us...So there's a lot of different areas in which, as Americans, we have a significantly different view from China about what is best...we just have completely different views of the rules...So China wants their preferences to be accommodated, and the first thing we know is that it's never going to be better for the United States for another country to decide our future. But we have to ask ourselves, how bad is it? And in some cases, it's pretty bad because China has this very narrow view of things and part of those preferences are a lack of political freedoms that they think other countries should respect. And for a while, maybe you could say we didn't care. I mean, yes, it's unfortunate that people don't have political freedoms in China, but that didn't impact someone in Wisconsin. But now it is impacting Americans. The NBA thing is a perfect example. The more power China has, you know, Tom Cruise can't wear a Taiwan flag on his jacket in Top Gun...Americans and Europeans are realizing that their own lives are being affected by the choices of China. And so that's why we care about you how much power they have, and also about shaping their behavior."
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On China Forcibly Taking Over Taiwan |
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Rep. Gallagher: "Do you think that will be his [Xi Jinping's] legacy, like Taiwan specifically?"
Oriana Mastro: "I do. I didn't always think that. He used to say a lot of pretty aggressive things about Taiwan, and I thought, it's just bonus points. It doesn't really matter because he's going to be out of office by 2022, so him making speeches about what's gonna happen with Taiwan in 2025 or 2030, none of that matters. When he got rid of the term limits, then all of a sudden, all those things he was saying had a different connotation because now people could actually hold him to it. And I wrote an article for the LA Times in which I basically made this argument that I think now, for the first time, the Chinese military thinks they can actually do it...When I make this argument that they want to take Taiwan most people in America are like, no, no, no. Why would they do that? The cost of war is so high, it would upset everyone. Well most moderate Chinese strategists I've talked to have told me that they are pushing to do this by force. And this idea that the world would turn against China? China has spent decades convincing the world that Taiwan is unique -- that how they interact with Taiwan is not how they would interact with the rest of the world. So I don't think it's a given that if they forcibly reunify with Taiwan, then all of a sudden, you know, the whole world isolates them or something like that."
BONUS CONTENT: Check out Rep. Gallagher's op-ed in the National Review on strengthening relations with Taiwan HERE.
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On China's Global Ambitions |
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Oriana Mastro: "I think there's an assumption that China wants what we have and I don't think that's true. It's not that China doesn't want to be number one or they don't want to be powerful. They do. But their vision of what that means is different than what the United States is. So just like the United States didn't build a colonial empire because Great Britain had one, it's not that we lacked ambition, we just decided that the most efficient way of exercising power instead was through international institutions, global military posture, and alliances around the world. China has a different vision of what the best way of exercising power is, and in their mind it is not foreign military presence and foreign military intervention, which have been key tools of U.S. foreign policy. They think those are extremely costly, inefficient ways of exercising power. So when I say that their global military ambitions are somewhat limited, it's not because I think they're not ambitious. It's because I think they think that is the reason for the US decline. Why copy the model that you thought didn't work? So instead, they're trying to rely largely on local authorities to protect their interests in countries when there are security issues. And then using political and economic power where they can."
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Advice for Northeast Wisconsin Students |
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Rep. Gallagher: "Let's say you and your husband come to visit me in Northeast Wisconsin. We we go to a bar and you have to come hang out with us. Someone comes up to you and says, oh my gosh, I heard you on this podcast and you've inspired me to pursue a career in academia. But I want it to be policy relevant. What advice would you give that young person from Northeast Wisconsin?"
Oriana Mastro: "I would say first of all, don't make decisions based on what you think is going to work for your career. Make decisions about what you're passionate about, because you never know. When I joined the Air Force, the job that I joined to do, that I thought I wanted to do, it turned out to be the worst job I ever had in the Air Force. So don't be disappointed if you work so hard and then you realize you actually didn't want that. Really think about the things that you enjoy, and then make sure that you work harder than anyone else. Can you do what is expected of you and one extra thing? That's always how I think about it. I always am like if my list is full, can I keep this up and do one extra thing? Maybe you know you want to be policy relevant. But being the best at what everyone else is doing is a lot harder than doing something different."
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De Pere
1702 Scheuring Rd., Ste. B
De Pere, WI 54115
www.gallagher.house.gov
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Washington, DC
1230 Longworth HOB
Washington, DC 20515
www.gallagher.house.gov
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