The US Weapon China's Communists Fear The Most

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These are the people that matter in the CCP hierarchy. More than any other action the American government can take, this effects the CCP's top leadership directly. Apply sanctions and tariffs, and Xi and the CCP elite will gladly have regular Chinese absorb the hardship and punishment, limitlessly.

But explaining away the CCP leadership's immense wealth - to include overseas bank accounts, businesses, real estate and relatives with“green cards” is tricky - and dangerous - especially while Xi is telling all other Chinese to“eat bitterness.”

The 600 million Chinese who live on US$5 a day and the huge number who live on less might not be so understanding. This corruption - preternaturally part of any communist party - could even bring down the CCP.

Corruption was a major reason that Free China's Nationalist, or Kuomintang, regime lost to Mao's communists in 1949, ceding the mainland and fleeing to Taiwan - and Xi knows it.

In 2012, Bloomberg and the New York Times reported on CCP elite wealth - to include Xi's own relatives. The response was furious - more than anything this writer has seen in 40 years. Bloomberg folded - fearing for its business in the PRC. And the New York Times rolled over as well.

But it showed what's doable - and exposed a fatal CCP vulnerability. The American intelligence community, with its $100 billion annual budget, can presumably do even better than a small team of reporters.

Public Law 117-263, Section 6501, ordered the Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, and the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, to get to work and produce a report - within a year. It was due December 23, 2023 - and still hasn't appeared. Haines and Blinken have moved on to their next sinecures.

Things may change, however, now that a new administration is in place. Section 6501 was, in fact, pushed through by Senator Marco Rubio - who is now Secretary of State. And President Trump's pick for DNI, Tulsi Gabbard, could prove to be made of sterner stuff than the former bookstore owner, Haines.

Once it's out, the Trump administration might even give Xi a hand with his touted anti-corruption campaigns and start placing liens on bank accounts, real estate and canceling visas and green cards.

And get America's partners to join in. The United Kingdom, Australia and Canada are equally attractive bolt-holes for China's communist elites to park their wealth and a relative or two.