Chuck Devore's Red Nightmare

During the California GOP senatorial debate, Chuck Devore took a hawkish position on China which he classified as an imminent threat to the United States. Later, a Devore campaign spokesman ripped the Chinese government as "fascistic".

During the GOP senatorial debate in California that aired this past Sunday, candidate Chuck Devore responded to a question about the American troop presence in Afghanistan. Unprompted, Devore brought up the emerging threat of China as one of the reasons that he opposed the current plan to increase troop levels in Afghanistan.

“We have to prepare for the next enemy. It’s not Afghanistan. It’s the People’s Republic of China,” said Chuck Devore.  After the debate, Devore told reporters that “weakness invites aggression, and I'm concerned now that our posture is inviting Chinese aggression."

“[Devore] believes that the true strategic threat to the United States is not the Taliban… but is the PRC,” Joshua Treviño, Devore’s communications director, explained to FrumForum.

It should be no surprise that Devore jumped to the unconventional juxtaposition of the PRC with the Taliban, despite being unprompted. In fact, Devore’s been particularly interested in the topic for at least over a decade. In 1999, Chuck Devore co-wrote a fictional novel, China Attacks, about an invasion of Taiwan by the People’s Republic of China (The Hong Kong Standard called it “a page-turning flurry of the point-counterpoint world of military invasion and international political brinkmanship”).

Elaborating on Devore’s views, Treviño put it this way:

We need to be aware that the People’s Republic of China is… a fascistic state… in the sense of being a broadly corporatist, autocratic, single-party, hysterically nationalist entity that poses a danger not only to its own citizens but to its neighbors, and also to the U.S. – that’s a reality that we live with, and one that Chuck Devore recognizes.

The nature of Devore’s interest in the country, and his classification of the People’s Republic of China as an imminent enemy of the United States, is by no means uncommon. But it does make him perhaps the most hawkish on the issue amongst the California Republican Senatorial candidates.

Tom Campbell spokesman James Fisfis declined to comment on Devore’s statement, but did tell FrumForum that Campbell didn’t see China as an enemy. “He doesn’t view the People’s Republic of China as either an ally or an enemy,” said Fisfis. “China does what’s in the best interest of China.”

Asked for comment, the Carly Fiorina campaign came down hard on Devore’s China stance, accusing him of supporting the abdication of American responsibility in Afghanistan:

Chuck Devore can't give a straight answer on Afghanistan and his comments in the debate underscore his lack of understanding and sophistication when it comes to this issue… His failure to support the mission in Afghanistan puts him at odds with our military leaders and the vast majority of Republicans…

America has a complex and important relationship with China. We have many differences with the Chinese on issues like respect for human rights, support for crippling sanctions on Iran, reining in the rogue regime in North Korea, and enforcing copyright and intellectual property rights. Our economies are also intertwined in many ways. It requires sophistication and knowledge to manage this relationship, but it cannot mean that we abdicate our responsibility to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda.