Beware, China Influence Can Come at a Great Cost: An Expert’s Advice for Micronesia

By Arunmoy Das

According to Canadian investigative journalist Sam Cooper, China’s motivation for its generous investments is driven by a singular goal: “to use economic levers on other nations to ultimately put themselves in a position of ultimate control ” Cooper, since 2009, has been at the forefront of reporting on how Beijing has used organized crime organizations and United Front entities, particularly the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in British Columbia (BC) to conduct covert operations within Canada. 

In his 2021 best-seller Wilful Blindness and his Substack newsletter The Bureau (thebureau.news), Cooper reports that Triads based in China have used BC casinos to launder billions of fentanyl drug money. Such activity has bolstered criminal activities, such as extortion, loan sharking, and gang warfare, and made BC a transit point for transnational drug trade. Illegal cash flow has also been linked to bribery of government officials and politicians, who then subsequently promoted CCP interests.

Chinese economic interference has been a greatly destabilizing force in affected nations. “China is using and corrupting every aspect of British Columbia’s economy and that goes across Canada,” Cooper claims. This includes port facilities, the tech industry, and especially Canada’s bloated real estate market. Furthermore, in his coverage of a Belt and Road import-export center in BC, the only Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) facility in North America, Cooper connected China’s flagship infrastructure initiative back to illicit activity. “If [China has] access to another country’s port, [Chinese organized crime syndicates] will use that for importing drugs that can harm your citizens.” 

A study by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC), a Geneva-based NGO which developed strategies against organized crime, backs this claim. In a 2021 research report titled “China’s New Silk Road: Navigating the Organized Crime Risk,” GI-TOC explains how Chinese infrastructure projects, their associated influx of Chinese workers, and subsequent establishment of communities risks infiltration by Chinese criminal networks. Using the cultural practice of guanxi,  or networks of personal connections used for gaining favors, Chinese criminals “leverage their social ties to engage, or coerce, fellow Chinese nationals into illicit activities.” This should be particularly concerning to Micronesian nations, who are actively engaged in BRI projects.

“I do have confidence in saying that all ranges of China’s hybrid warfare tactics would be leveraged through major Belt and Road projects,” Cooper adds. “Economic infiltration and corruption of foreign politicians at a large scale in Belt and Road projects through kickbacks is used as a way of gaining significant influence over policy in other nations that would favor Beijing.” 

In recent years, China’s political warfare has become an issue of great concern for Micronesian governments. In an 2023 open letter to the Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), outgoing President of the FSM David Panuelo details the aggressive, clandestine tactics used by China against his nation, including espionage, encroachments on sovereignty, and bribery. 

“Senior officials and elected officials across the whole of our National and State Governments receive offers of gifts as a means to curry favor,” Panuelo claims. “The practical impact of this is that some senior officials and elected officials take actions that are contrary to the FSM’s national interest, but are consistent with the [China’s] national interests.”  Even beyond egregious violations of integrity and sovereignty lie serious threats to Micronesian officials’ personal security; Panuelo himself had direct threats made against him by Chinese officials.

When asked about Panuelo’s comments, Cooper emphasized the lengths China can go to to fulfill its political objectives. “The range of what they are capable of has no limits.”  

In his coverage of illicit Chinese covert activities in Canada, he reported on how Chinese Canadian politicians who were critical of China’s treatment of its Uighur population were directly targeted by Chinese intelligence in hurting their reelection chances. He notes that there have been cases in Canada of actual violence against community leaders who have taken stances against China. 

The threat of severe political violence is especially high for smaller states like in Micronesia. “While attempts to catch a politician in a honey trap or a smear to get compromising information on them will happen across the board, death threats I would think China will be more willing to employ against a smaller state or jurisdiction,” Cooper says.

In the face of China’s aggressive covert activities, Cooper believes that both the West and affected countries need to be proactive to maintain Micronesia’s sovereignty. He advises first to cautiously limit Micronesia’s dependence on China “by carefully downgrading trade with China in a way that will not trigger Beijing leaders into war-like activity but in the most efficient way possible.” 

He advises that alongside greater economic ties, a closer political relationship between the West and Micronesia is necessary to fight back China’s growing presence in the region. 

“The opposite of an isolationist mindset is needed in countries like the United States and Canada. We need to get back to the idea of spreading democracy, fostering good government in other nations, and engaging with them in mutually beneficial ways. If it’s left to others like China, we’re simply letting people that are much more ruthless and dangerous to the other nations [to take control]. In the end, they will use those other nations against us.”

Arunmoy Das is a research intern at the US-Micronesia Council, specializing in political analysis and international affairs.