Open Letter to President Trump Urges Him to Stay the Course on China

An open letter to President Trump urged the president to stay the course on dealing with the Chinese government, which the letter states is in opposition to the values and strategic interests of the United States.

The letter was written by retired Navy Captain James E. Fanell, a former director of Intelligence and Information Operations for the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The letter is a response to an open letter published by the Washington Post on July 3 titled "China is not an enemy."

"Over America's exceptional history, successive generations have risen to the challenge of protecting and furthering our founding principles, and defeating existential threats to our liberties and those of our allies," the letter reads, "Today, our generation is challenged to do the same by a virulent and increasingly dangerous threat to human freedoms – the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) through the nation it misrules: the People’s Republic of China (PRC)."

Fanell's letter has 130 signatories, including veterans and former U.S. military officials, scholars and professors, think tank members, and other China watchers. The letter states, "China is not as we wish it to be. In our political system, politics is the norm, and war is the exception. It is explicitly the opposite in the PRC's worldview. Going forward, we must better understand and deal with this dangerous asymmetry."

The letter lists the abuses of the CCP, including suppression of freedom of speech and religion, corrupt economic practices, opposition to the existing international order, expansionism, and threats to go to war against the free and democratic country of Taiwan.