The China Syndrome

I have mentioned the emergence of strange new political bedfellows before.

The Clive Hamilton and the National Civic Council unity ticket might just take the cake. Clive is a leftie from central casting, but he broke from "Team China" with the publication of his book, China's Silent Invasion: China's Influence in Australia. This book exposed China's by now well-known attempt at world domination through thuggish capitalism and, as Lenin once put it, capitalism's "highest stage", aka imperialism. What a sublimely brilliant strategy the ChiComms have developed.

The National Civic Council (NCC) is the creation of the legendary Bob Santamaria, Mr DLP and the lead agent for Catholic Action in Australia. Fiercely anti-communist from the get-go, the NCC has been performing yeoman service in the anti-China cause since we were all in short pants. Its efforts continue, unabated. They are to be welcomed at a time of general Western subservience to China.

Clive Hamilton has another book coming out next week – Hidden Hand: How the Chines Communist Party is reshaping the World. Buy it! Empower lefties who see through the Chinese scam. Doing so may also dissuade Clive from publishing further books on climate bullshit.

China doesn't have a very good press at the moment, post-Covid, and opposition to the Chinese regime mounts globally, on a daily basis. This is occurring both at a policy level (with ScoMo's efforts), and among the punters who smell a rat or several. Good. It is a truly repulsive regime. Consider the following, for starters:

• All-but-proven Covid dishonesty, about both the causes and the timing of the initial Wuhan outbreak;
• The controversial and creepy Wet Markets;
• The relentless buying up of Australia and our core assets – agriculture, businesses, real estate, strategic infrastructure and the rest;
• Confucius Institutes and the taking over the studentship of Australian universities, generally used as a ticket to permanent migration;
• The "They took our jobs" syndrome – the outsourcing of our skill set, especially in manufacturing, to a foreign power;
• 5G and Huawei, conspiracy theories notwithstanding;
• Brutal human rights abuses at home that are beyond the pale;
• Security issues and the infiltration of Australian institutions;
• The regime's totalitarianism;
• China's blatant imperialism and the bullying of other countries that this means;
• Militarisation and the attempted control of the Pacific;
• Accelerating immigration to Australia;
• The buying up of Australian property, thereby inflating Aussie house prices in capital cities;
• The Belt and Road Initiative and Daniel Andrews' – China's Daniel Andrews-abetted strategy to leverage economic influence into political influence in Australia.

Yes the list is long, and growing. Will it mean that the bell tolls for Xi? Probably not. China is too clever, and we are stupid, for that.

The list also suggests – how can the West put up with its own obsequiousness to China? How did this all happen?

In the words of the British commentator James Delingpole, China is a 'big thug". Yet we are urged by our betters to love it. To "engage".

Speaking of Delingpole, we owe him a big favour for drawing the world's attention to the "how they did it" question. James has a podcast (who doesn't, now?) called Delingpod. James happened to meet at a London dinner party one Stewart Paterson, who has written a book called China, Trade and Power: Why the West's Economic Engagement Has Failed (2018).

Delingpole described Paterson's book as "the most important book I have ever read".

A big call.