PARLIAMENT HILL—“Death by China” became somewhat of a theme Wednesday as hundreds of Tibetans protested repression in China on the front lawn of Parliament while MPs and others were coincidently gathered for a lunch forum with the co-author of a book by that title.
As Tibetans formed the words “Enough” with their bodies—a statement on the recent suicides of 11 monks in Tibet, several of them in their teens—author Greg Autry described a pattern of incremental destruction he says the Chinese regime is inflicting on the Western world.
China’s rulers, he said, have a unique power shared by Apple founder Steve Jobs—the reality distortion field.
“Apple employees and friends of Jobs described it as Jobs’ ability to look one directly in the eye and lie with impunity,” he said.
“The leaders of the Chinese Communist Party have grown up with a similar confidence in their own infallibility and power to define truth as rulers of a vast totalitarian state.”
Autry said no matter how heinous the regime abuses its people, cheats in its trading relationships, spies and hacks other governments, or openly prepares for war, the West remains under the spell of its “unwavering fake smile.”
By convincing western nations to compete for access to the promised riches of the Chinese market, the regime has kept them relatively silent on everything from tariffs to its environmental and human rights abuses.
Autry argues that China’s military is growing faster than its GDP, and its major hardware investments—including the J-20 stealth fighter/bomber and anti-aircraft carrier ballistic missiles—point to preparations for an offensive rather than defensive confrontation.
China’s increasingly aggressive claims in the South China Sea have sparked fears in the region, said Autry, pointing to Vietnam’s efforts to rapidly upgrade its military hardware by purchasing six submarines from Russia.
