Let’s get personal. That slick new smartwatch you just bought? Or the Bluetooth earbuds that cost less than a burrito? They’re impressive, sure. But they also might have contributed to a massive geopolitical shift.+
No judgment—we’ve all been there. But as Edouard Prisse argues in his book, We Are Funding China’s Growth: That Must Stop!, your new gadget might just be another brick in the Great Wall of authoritarian expansion.
Here’s why.
Since 2001, the West—led by the United States—entered into free trade with China based on what Prisse shows to have been “totally false assumptions.” The pitch was that cheaper goods would benefit consumers and that China, over time, would become more open, democratic, and aligned with global norms.
Instead, we got an industrial exodus, a ballooning trade deficit, and a Communist Party in Beijing with more economic leverage than ever before.
And all those savings you’ve made on electronics, clothes, and toys? They’re paid for with what Prisse describes as an “unprecedented amount of immediately usable money” flowing into China—money that is beginning to make China more powerful than the United Stses and Europe combined.
In 2022 alone, China’s trade surplus hit $870 billion. That’s not small change. That’s fuel for a system that has shown interest in reshaping the global balance of power.
It’s not just about money. It’s about how that money is used.
Prisse details how China reinvests this income in two ways:
- Internally: To prop up inefficient state-run industries and prevent real-estate collapse in a tightly controlled economy.
- Externally: To exert influence in Africa, Asia, and even Europe, through investments, loans, bribes and acquisitions
This isn’t development aid. It’s power projection—with your dollars.
So yes, that gadget, that clothing item, or that household item might have cost you less. But it also helped fund a regime that:
- Keeps wages artificially low by suppressing labor rights.
- Silences dissent and free speech.
- Builds global leverage not through innovation—but through economic entrapment.
But what’s the alternative?
Prisse isn’t calling for a boycott. He’s calling for common sense and policy reform. Specifically, the replacement of “free trade” by equal trade—a balanced system where America and China trade dollar-for-dollar, keeping flows in check.
In short, we need rules that stop us from enriching a rival system at our own expense.
Does that mean gadgets will get more expensive? Possibly. But maybe that’s a fair price to pay for safeguarding democracy, jobs, and sovereignty.
Prisse reminds us that this isn’t about demonizing China—it’s about recognizing the nature of its regime and acting accordingly. When asked if he was anti-Chinese, he wrote: “Truth is, I like the Chinese very much… But I do have a problem with this aggressive communist dictatorship.”
And maybe we should, too.
So the next time you click “Add to Cart,” pause and ask: Am I just buying a gadget… or helping fund a system that’s quietly buying the world?
But while small purchases have big consequences, it is only the White House that can put things right. And that means recognize the initial Bill Clinton error and then raplace free trade with China by ‘Equal Trade’ with China. Donald Trump is the first US President to understand what’s wrong here. But he does not yet understand hiw to go about it. This book shows him how to best stop the ongoing damage.
This book is a must- read for every American who loves his country.