The Trump administration has labeled additional groups that pose a risk to America as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs), including Mexican cartels and Iran-linked terrorist organizations. The Senate passed a resolution calling on the State Department to classify Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism, and lawmakers recently introduced legislation to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as an FTO.
Noticeably absent from the conversation is labeling the Chinese regime a state sponsor of terrorism. This is a much-needed step in order to hold the Chinese government responsible for its support for international terrorism that impacts American national security.
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) provides support and resources to Iran, a U.S.-designated state sponsor of terrorism. Beijing funds Tehran’s anti-West aggression and terrorist activities primarily through its purchases of Iranian crude oil, with Tehran exporting 90% of its oil to the PRC alone. Although the Trump administration has been persistent in sanctioning Chinese refineries, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has found ways to circumvent U.S. sanctions.
China has supplied arms and military equipment to Iran—ranging from drone parts to surface-to-air missile batteries—as well as ingredients for Tehran’s ballistic missiles.
Iran funds its FTO-designated proxies throughout the Middle East, all of which have launched brutal attacks on American nationals for decades now. Tehran is notorious for transferring Chinese weapons into the hands of Hamas terrorists.
Chinese rocket technology has been found in Hamas’s labs, and Chinese state-owned companies have facilitated the purchase of American parts found in drones used by Hamas. Luckily, the administration has addressed this.
Aside from Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s direct contact with Chinese officials in the Middle East, Mohammed Deif—a top commander of Hamas’s military wing who planned the October 7 attacks, now dead—studied rocketry and artillery at the People’s Liberation Army’s Army Engineering University and married two Chinese Muslim women, one of whom allegedly set up a direct line of communication between Hamas and the CCP.
PLA engineers and advisors helped design and construct Gaza’s network of tunnels. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) ended up capturing two Chinese tunnel engineers during the war.
Similar patterns of engagement are seen with other Iranian-backed groups. Houthi leadership traveled to Beijing multiple times in 2023 and 2024 and later procured Chinese missile parts and guidance systems. Houthi militants have spared Chinese vessels traveling through the Red Sea due to Beijing’s support.
China has emerged as the biggest loser following President Trump’s successful Gaza ceasefire, which resulted in the return of the remaining living Israeli hostages. Beijing has intentionally stoked instability in the Middle East in an attempt to distract the West—as it is doing with Ukraine—and to undermine Israel, a key U.S. ally.
The IDF, along with President Trump’s Operation Midnight Hammer, has dealt significant blows to Iran and disrupted Hezbollah’s networks.
However, keep in mind that Iran maintains the capacity to carry out violence against its citizens, continues to work with China, and still finances Hamas. Disarming Hamas remains a complex and distant goal.
The CCP has been funding far-left, pro-Hamas groups on U.S. soil as part of its overseas united front strategy, aimed at sowing chaos, furthering anti-American sentiment, and committing violence against Americans. Most of this money has been funneled through the network of China-based American billionaire and CCP ally Neville Roy Singham, husband of Jodie Evans—Code Pink’s co-founder and a former Democrat operative.
On another front, the U.S. continues to battle the opioid epidemic, with fentanyl being responsible for more American deaths than U.S. military casualties in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq combined. It is the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18 to 45.
Meanwhile, the CCP subsidizes the production of fentanyl precursors for export. Beijing supplies the necessary chemicals and equipment to Mexican cartels—most notoriously to the Sinaloa Cartel, which earned an FTO designation earlier this year.
Chemicals are imported to Mexico through ports operated by Chinese companies, and Chinese chemists allegedly operate certain Mexican labs in which the drugs are produced. Chinese triads, at the direction of the CCP, assist the cartels with their trafficking operations. The drug money ends up being laundered through Chinese state banks.
The Chinese government has also carried out kidnappings on foreign soil as part of its transnational repression campaign to silence dissidents and their relatives. Foreign governments either lack the resources to combat Chinese transnational repression or choose to comply. In most cases, it is the latter—or a combination of the two.
Not to mention the biological weapon that the Chinese government unleashed on the world in 2020 and the three Chinese “researchers” who were caught smuggling an agroterrorism weapon into the U.S. earlier this year. These are anything but isolated incidents. They are integral to the CCP’s unrestricted warfare.
As these examples demonstrate, Beijing is very much involved in supporting terrorism across the globe both directly and indirectly, targeting the U.S. and some of its closest allies. Designating China as a state sponsor of terrorism would place additional constraints on the regime, including financial restrictions, export controls on dual-use items, tighter immigration controls, and restrictions on foreign assistance. It would also further damage China’s already tarnished international image.
Though the administration may prefer to hold off on applying such a designation, it must remain a tool in the broader strategy to counter the communist regime, especially given that Beijing has revealed its ill intentions to the world. At one point, our elected officials will have to acknowledge that such a label is long overdue—a critical step toward holding the PRC accountable.
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