Escalating tensions could lead to US-China military clash: Gordon Chang
China expert Gordon Chang discusses rising tensions between the U.S. and China after the U.S. consulate in Chendu is taken over.
Author and China expert Gordon Chang warned on Fox Business Network's “Varney & Co.” Monday that the Beijing government has undertaken "very dangerous activities, especially against the U.S. Navy and the Air Force" in recent years.
"When a militant power wants to kill in great numbers, it usually succeeds," Chang told host Stuart Varney in reference to a 2018 incident in which two U.S. airmen piloting a C-130 aircraft were injured by a "military grade" laser.
“When you try to blind the pilots of an American plane, you’re trying to bring it down and kill the crew," said Chang, adding, "there have been the sonic attacks against U.S. diplomats at the Guangzhou consulate at about the same time causing brain injuries."
Chang, the author of the new book, "The Great U.S.-China Tech War," compared Beijing under Xi Jinping to "1930s Japan."
CHINA SAYS US IS CLOSING HOUSTON CONSULATE BASED ON 'VICIOUS SLANDER'
Tension levels between the U.S. and China have reached new highs after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. will regard China with a new strategy of “distrust and verify” and China accused the U.S. of backward thinking.
“The current situation in China-U.S. relations is not what China desires to see, and the U.S. is responsible for all this,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Friday in response to America's closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston.
“We once again urge the U.S. to immediately retract its wrong decision and create necessary conditions for bringing the bilateral relationship back on track,” he added.
The Trump administration's decision to close the consulate came after reports early last week indicated fires were burning in the consulate's courtyard. Houston police and firefighters responded to reports of smoke rising from the courtyard and visible trash cans on fire, but were not allowed to enter the premises due to jurisdictional rights.
The State Department responded by giving the consulate three days to cease operations and vacate the premises.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus told Fox News the decision to close the consulate was “to protect American intellectual property and Americans' private information.”
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When Varney asked Chang if China believes “they can beat President Trump” with such aggressive tactics," Chang answered, "I think they probably believe that they can and, at least, we know that they are trying.
He added that the Chinese government has "engaged in a malicious disinformation campaign on the coronavirus [and] another one on the George Floyd protest.
We believe, although this is unconfirmed, that that Houston consulate we closed down had links with U.S. protest groups. We have seen China try to bring in the U.S. items which would be very useful for a protest movement. We don’t know for sure but there is a lot that needs to be investigated.”
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