U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeos landmark speech “Communist China and the Free World” has been heralded as the “beginning of a new era” in global affairs and a marked shift in foreign policy towards Beijing.
Sydney-based Dr Jin Chin, chair of the Federation for a Democratic China told The Epoch Times on Aug. 13 that the speech was the moment Chinese democracy activists “have long been waiting for.”
According to Chin, since the United States and the Peoples Republic of China entered formal diplomatic relations, U.S. administrations from both sides of the aisle have been “naively and wishfully” engaging with the regime.
The Federation for a Democratic China has been active since 1989 and was established in the wake of the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
Pompeos speech in late July called on like-minded nations to “induce change” in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The speech was delivered at the Richard Nixon Library and Museum, symbolising the enormity of the change to the 50-year engagement strategy that has underpinned U.S.-China relations since its establishment by former President Richard Nixon in 1972.
Pompeo noted though that ultimately Nixon regretted engaging with the regime and feared he might have created a “Frankensteins monster” by opening the world to the CCP.
From now on, the secretary of state said nations could not be satisfied by merely “getting tough” on Beijing, and instead, called on governments to “induce China to change in more creative and assertive ways.”
“We must also engage and empower the Chinese people – a dynamic, freedom-loving people who are completely distinct from the Chinese Communist Party,” Pompeo said.
“But changing the CCPs behaviour cannot be the mission of the Chinese people alone. Free nations have work to do to defend freedom,” he continued.
For Chin, Pompeos speech indicates that the international community is now reaching a crossroad where the civilised world cannot co-exist with the CCP.
“If the free world fails to realise this live-or-die conflict with the CCP (the last stronghold of totalitarianism) then the CCP will defeat the free world and dominate it,” he said.
Chin says the potential fall of communism in China was becoming “clearly visible” in recent years with a host of external and internal pressures coalescing on the regime.
He said there were three likely scenarios for Beijings rule going forward. The first was Beijing holds tightly to power and continues its economic decline.
The second, could see the regime respond to “intra-party tussles” with political purges and reforms, further weakening the totalitarian structure of the CCP.
