By Dave DeCamp
April 15, 2020 "Information
Clearing House" - Coronavirus has hit
the US harder than most countries around the world. A new
think-tank made up of the country’s biggest China hawks is using
the crisis to turn public opinion against Beijing. An American
public living in fear over this crisis is particularly
vulnerable to anti-China propaganda. The virus’ Chinese origin
may also serve as a useful tool for a Pentagon that is looking
to increase its footprint in the Indo-Pacific region.
A Cold War-era group was revived last year by
neoconservative Frank Gaffney and former White House strategist
Steve Bannon. The
Committee on the Present Danger: China (CPD) launched just
over a year ago in March 2019. The new CPD is the group’s fourth
iteration. The first CPD was formed in the 1950s, the second in
the 70s, both used to confront the Soviet Union. The third CPD
was formed in 2004 to address the so-called War on Terror.
Members of the CPD refer to China as the
greatest "existential threat" to the US. "The United States is
likely to face in the foreseeable future a determined and
aggressive superpower adversary, prepared and willing to use
force, as well as nonmilitary forms of warfare, to defeat this
country decisively," reads one of the CPD’s
"guiding principles." Another principle says, "There is no
hope of coexistence with China as long as the Communist Party
governs the country." The Covid-19 pandemic is the perfect
opportunity for this group to exploit the fears of Americans and
push for a more hawkish policy towards China.
Steve Bannon played an influential role in
President Trump’s campaign and the early days of the
administration and pushed hard for tariffs on Chinese goods
during his short-lived role as chief strategist. Bannon’s China
ambitions do not stop with the trade war. "I think ultimate
success is regime change [in China], and I realize in that
regard I’m considered a radical," Bannon
told NPR in May 2019.
Bannon has a podcast titled "Bannon’s War Room."
Back in January, in the early days of the outbreak, Bannon
changed the title to
"War Room: Pandemic." In the show, Bannon rails against
China’s response to the virus. Bannon frequently refers to the
pandemic as a "Biological Chernobyl" and
has said there will be a "Nuremberg-type trial" in Wuhan.
Last week, Bannon
appeared on Fox Business News and said, "Blood is on the
hands of the Chinese Communist Party."
