Blood Money

Blood Money: Why the Powerful Turn a Blind Eye While China Kills Americans: Uncovering China's Covert Operations in America
By Peter Schweizer
Published in February 2024
320 Pages
Thibault’s Score: 3/5

As part of my day to day work, I get to talk to many high level officials and businesspeople. Many keep bringing up a major issue over and over: how China is using covert tactics to influence American society. Blood Money explains and details the tactics that China uses.

Openly, the author Peter Schweizer is just an academic who works with the Government Accountability Institute. However, a bit of research into his background reveals that he has many ties to US intelligence agencies, and is associated with the Trump administration.

Although the topic is intriguing, the imagery of the cover and the first few chapters put me off because it seemed very sensational. I didn’t like the tone or writing style. However, the content is very informative and well researched. I was able to confirm many of Schweizer’s allegations with some quick Googling.

We are in a second Cold War; except that this time our main enemy is China (with Russia being, at best, a secondary adversary). Chinese agents use 5 major tactics to destabilize America:

-Sell fentanyl on US soil at below market rates
-Promote divisive social movements such as Black Lives Matter
-Steal intellectual property
-Promote social media apps (such as TikTok) that corrupt the morals of the American youth
-Lobby politicians to implement economically damaging policies such as COVID lockdowns

All of these activities are well known by US intelligence agencies. They pose major threats. However, they are not covered by the media. Schweizer fails to explain why in his book: the US government uses very similar tactics against China and Russia. Schweizer likely does not discuss these due to his intelligence ties.

One reason why China is able to operate so freely within the United States is because Chinese money has purchased significant political influence in the US. Chinese lobbyists routinely fund political campaigns for both Republicans and Democrats. According to Schweizer, one of the politicians who has the most ties to China is California governor Gavin Newsom - who also passes legislation that promotes Chinese interests on US soil.

I am not sure if I would recommend this book or not. I don’t like the sensational style of the first few chapters, and I don’t like the fact that Schweizer doesn’t call out America for using the same tactics on China. However, I know a few people who are curious about the topics (such as my mom) and will recommend the book to them.

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