But the die has already been cast about the visit: China is going to win the battle of nation-state public relations because U.S. and other Western leaders are relying on 20^th-century norms that China has broken, stomped on, and thrown into the dust heap of history.

Public relations attempts to convince target audiences of a story, and the best stories are built upon clear evidence. That’s why President Joe Biden’s story of a “thaw” between China and Western nations seems to be a one-way street, while China’s story of strength and dominance is built upon significant economic and military power, expanded diplomatic relations with U.S. allies and erstwhile allies, and pushing international norms.

In the last year, for example, the U.S. has sought to build relations with China by delaying sanctions and disavowing former U.S. House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan. In the same time period, China sent a spy balloon across much of the U.S., threatened Pelosi’s life, spied on the U.S. from Cuba, and – the same week that administration appeared to lighten its critiques about the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 – nearly rammed a U.S. military ship.

Other major Western powers seem unable to see that China is remaking the post-World War II norms for nation-states. The World Health Organization parroted Chinese government talking points early in the COVID-19 pandemic instead of conducting independent investigations into the dictatorship’s claims. Last year, the Vatican, just a month after extending a compromise with China’s anti-religious authorities about naming bishops, found out that China approved bishops without consultation. And when China hosted the 2022 Winter Olympics, none of the world’s powers gave any meaningful pushback against the Chinese state’s totalitarian policies and systemic human rights abuses.

U.S.-led efforts turned into strong language after April’s G-7 meeting, and Blinken’s trip was delayed as a punishment in reaction to the spy balloon, but some nations don’t seem impressed. In March, Saudi Arabia announced major deals to supply China with oil, and just last weekend, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said he had “ignored” Western officials’ misgivings about the kingdom’s dealings with China. Even America’s nearby neighbors and treaty-bound allies have made overtures to China: Honduras recently broke off relations with Taiwan and opened an embassy in Beijing, and Hungary – a NATO member – now considers China a strategic partner, according to Foreign

 China may not have the world’s largest economy, but it has spent decades becoming indispensable on the world stage. Its economic threats would be irrelevant if it wasn’t the world’s manufacturing leader, including for technical products like lithium-ion batteries, and its threats could be countered by the U.S. military if Pentagon leaders weren’t concerned that America would lose a hot war.

In short, the nation that caused a worldwide pandemic, steals other nations’ technology, and engages in genocide against Muslims and unborn children continues to sign treaties, host the Olympics, and ignore its own promises. Most national leaders probably prefer the U.S. story of thaws and compromises, but they know the truth: China has replaced the U.S. as the world’s most indispensable nation.

And that’s why it is winning the nation-state PR battle, no matter what story Blinken tells during and after next week’s visit. Nobody trusts China, but most people prefer to be on the side of the story they believe is going to win.

This piece was originally published at Real Clear World.

China’s rise is bad news for the rest of the world; but here’s what its success can teach about becoming a bullet-proof market leader.

1. Become indispensable. China has been on the United Nations’ Security Council since its founding, making itself politically indispensable. It is the center of production and processing for many industries, making itself indispensable to companies and consumers seeking cheaper goods. And its billion citizens make it an indispensable partner to companies looking for new markets, such as Hollywood and the National Basketball Association.
2. Patiently execute your long-term plan. China didn’t become an economic powerhouse overnight. Its NBA relationship, for example, began in the 1980s and accelerated after 200 million Chinese watched China native Yao Ming’s first game with the Houston Rockets in 2002. NBA China was created in 2008, and now the NBA has a $5 billion arrangement with the Chinese government.Likewise, a 2018 analysis by a former economist for The Federal Reserve of St. Louis explained that China’s production capabilities were virtually non-existent in the late 1970s, compared to industrial powers like Great Britain and the U.S. Now, China “produces nearly 50 percent of the world’s major industrial goods.” Its production capabilities “started to take off” around 1980, and passed the U.S. in 2010 – 30 years later. 
3. Let other people do some of the talking for you. Lebron James surely did China’s bidding when he lambasted former Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey for opposing China’s crackdown on freedoms in Hong Kong. China ended up censoring NBA games despite Morey’s apology, costing the league hundreds of millions of dollars.

China spent decades becoming a leader in the community of nations, using the same fundamentals which have made Tesla, Apple, and Walmart household names. And just like these market leaders, it now controls the narrative surroundings its failures, successes, and future. The Olympics are surely not its last PR coup on its rise to the top.

Cena’s capitulation is old news. But as a symbol of Hollywood and U.S. corporate tough talk going silent when China snaps its fingers, it speaks volumes. And it speaks even more loudly that fans flocked to “Peacekeeper,” the new show where Cena plays a comic book assassin — because for all of the criticism leveled at businesses and individuals for kowtowing to China, it is consumers like you and me who are ultimately responsible.

The same Americans who stand for human rights on social media often abandon them to save a few bucks when something is Made in China. After decades of American consumerism building up the Chinese empire, we’re now seeing the fruits of other people’s slave labor.

Millennials are especially guilty of this hypocrisy. We are keyboard warriors on Twitter and Facebook, virtue-signaling about human rights even as we show our true colors by saving a few bucks on shoes, pants and iPhones to fund one of the world’s most heinous governments. We spend money on Coca-Cola despite its quiet sponsorship of the Olympics’ Chinese propaganda machine, and we watch NBA games even as the league puts Chinese profits over Hong Kong’s liberty.

Domestically, liberals won’t stand for the slightest microaggression against a minority, or the slightest effort to interfere with a woman’s right to choose abortion. Corporations like NBC Universal responded, threatening to pull operations after Georgia enacted a pro-life law. Delta Air Lines and the NBA likewise condemned Georgia over voter laws that allegedly discriminated against Black Americans.

Delta is the same company that apologized in 2018 after China’s Communist Party was offended by its listing of Taiwan and Tibet as separate nations. YouTube, which bans a lot of things for a lot of reasons domestically, put China’s Olympics propaganda in front of millions of people. And China’s genocide against a Muslim minority, and forced abortions targeted against unborn girls, didn’t stop NBC from signing an exclusive TV agreement for the Olympics.

Conservatives are just as hypocritical. The same people who proclaim opposition to digital spying buy iPhones from Apple and Androids from Google, despite both companies following Chinese marching orders to remove privacy protections. Conservatives support free markets until cheap products made by Chinese slaves are available. And pro-life values are wiped away when savings flash across the Chinese-produced computer or phone screen.

Stopping corporate malfeasance is quite simple, but it will require a complete change of consumer, political and social habits.

First, be a more conscientious spender. I support the free-market principle of outsourcing, but the pandemic has made me more aware of what I’m doing when buying things Made in China. I have substantial room to improve on how I spend.

Second, support government policies that will bring back domestic manufacturing and production. We can start with lowering taxes and eliminating unnecessary regulations. Businesses respond fastest to incentives, and while many companies would prefer to do business in the relatively safe, secure and predictable United States, the cost of compliance is driving them overseas.

Last, we must make China a common economic enemy with consumers who don’t see politics, values and culture the way we do. Supporters and opponents of legalized abortion should be equally outraged at China’s decades of forced abortions. Christian conservatives who prioritize religious liberty should align their wallets with liberal activists who want to protect ethnic and racial minorities. And those who disagree on the domestic definition of acceptable discourse should have a unified message against China’s Communist Party.

From Intel and Calvin Klein to carmakers and Delta, Western companies put money over ethics because Americans love cheap consumer goods more than we care about ethics. You want to blame corporations for spending billions in China and for using slave labor to make what we buy? Look in the mirror first, and then put your money where your social media post is.

This piece was originally published at Inside Sources by Dustin Siggins.

China clearly isn’t scared of anyone. In fact, China may be the most powerful nation in the world. America’s military may be more advanced, and our economy larger, but China has intimidated the world’s top nations, corporations, and NGOs into letting it have its way. Hosting the Olympics was simply the public-relations affirmation of China’s decades spent amassing influence and power. Beijing rose patiently, first in politics and economics, then with improved technology and military capabilities.

If this sounds like a propaganda coup, that’s because it is. The Chinese Communist Party has its critics, but they know their limits. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) recently condemned the nation’s human rights atrocities, but she also urged U.S. athletes to be silent about human rights so that they wouldn’t go missing or end up dead. That’s a victory for China. It is so brutal that U.S. representatives are not safe speaking up about human rights.

China’s most significant PR victory is probably in the economic realm, where it has created enormous leverage through its massive buying power. Hollywood and the NBA claim to stand for human rights in the U.S., but they kowtow to China because they don’t want to risk billions in revenue. The same is true for Apple and Google, which previously stood against snooping and for privacy rights, except when China demanded they change their practices. And both Airbus and Boeing are providing planes to the Chinese government and to Chinese companies, despite providing military services and products to the U.S. and other Western nations.

Like any bully, China doesn’t always have to go public to get its way. Sometimes it does, such as when it ordered Delta Airlines to stop acknowledging Tibet and Taiwan as separate nations – an order Delta was only too happy to accommodate. Other times, it gives a nudge from behind the scenes, letting alleged “tough guy” John Cena abase himself in Mandarin for saying Taiwan was a separate nation.

The world often treats Chinese propaganda, theft, and economic warfare quite different from how it reacts to actions by other nations. And who can blame them? Criticism against Israel, Syria, or the U.S. won’t result in overwhelming economic, military, digital, and propaganda warfare. All Australia did was demand an inquiry into China’s involvement in the pandemic, and it has been forced to withstand major economic boycotts. Lithuania chose to respect Taiwan as a separate nation, leading China to threaten economic sanctions against the tiny nation.

A rational person would think that the pandemic would have been enough cause for countries to deny communists the propaganda victory of hosting the Olympics. The USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan led 65 nations to boycott the 1980 Olympics; but this year, just a few nations declined to send official representatives despite genocide and millions of pandemic-related deaths. Then again, when you’ve allowed China to dictate world policy on the UN Security Council and lie to the World Health Organization about the pandemic, such weakness isn’t all that surprising.

When you’re the biggest player in an industry, you can often ignore your critics. Journalists, activists, and human rights leaders have long condemned China on everything from forced abortion and religious discrimination to espionage and intellectual property theft, but China simply plows forward. Like any successful organization, it has spent the time to build an infrastructure which can overwhelm the competition, withstand opposition, and win the messaging war. The Olympics was a PR coup for one of the world’s most heinous, and powerful, regimes – but if spreading a deadly pandemic couldn’t bring the world’s corporations and nations to unite against China, the Chinese Communist Party’s climb to the top isn’t over.

This piece was originally published at Real Clear World by Dustin Siggins.