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Does John Roberts Still Matter?
11.06-13.2020

Xi’s Secret Plan to Subvert America

600 reasons to worry about china
 NOVEMBER 06 - 13, 2020 _ VOL.175 _ NO.13

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22 34
EDUCATIONAL PLAY THINGS
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10 Does John Roberts
Still Matter? WRITERS
The Chief
+ealth &orrespondent _ Kashmira Gander
Justice Faces a Davidb%rennan, Danb&ancian, %rendanb&ole,
Diminished Role %enMaminbFearnoZ, -ennibFink, Davidb+.bFreedman,
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16 The Debate MattheZ Impelli, -acobb-arvis, Soob.im,
-asonbLemon, PhilbMartine], NoahbMiller,
Is Legal Pot Only SerenbMorris, -asonbMurdock, 7omb2’&onnor,
Good for Business? (ZanbPalmer, AdambPiore, %illbPoZell,
.haledab5ahman, .erri Anne 5en]ulli, Meghan
20 What Your Zoom 5oos, Winstonb5oss, -ackb5oyston,
Body Language 5obertobSaviano SamuelbSpencer,
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 SANTIAGO, CHILE

Anniversary Day
Demonstrators are sprayed with a water cannon by the riot police
during 2ctober 18 clashes that erupted on the ɿrst anniversary
of the social uprising in Chile. The country is preparing for a
landmark referendum that would change the constitution enacted
under former dictator Augusto Pinochet, who ruled from 19
M A RTI N %( R N (T T I ʔA FPʔ*( T T <

to 199. Chileans will be asked two Tuestions on 2ctober  do

they want a new constitution—and, if so, who should draft it.
MARTIN BERNETTI
In Focus

NEVSEHIR, TURKEY ORLANDO, FLORIDA GANJA, AZERBAIJAN

Hot Air Ready to Rumble Grieving

Colorful balloons glide over the Election workers on October 15 set up On October 17, a woman mourns the
historical Cappadocia region, located booths at a site established by the city death of her relative during a funeral
in Central Anatolia’s Nevsehir of Orlando and the Orlando Magic at for those killed after being struck by
province on October 17. Cappadocia the Amway Center. Early voting begins ballistic missiles. The weapons were
is preserved as a UNESCO World on October 19 in Florida, which is allegedly launched by the Armenian
Heritage site and is famous for its considered one of the key swing states army and hit the second-largest
chimney rocks, hot air balloon trips, in the battle between former Vice city in Azerbaijan, Ganja. The attack
underground cities and boutique hotels President Joe Biden and President killed at least 13 civilians, including
carved into rocks. It is one of Turkey’s Donald Trump. The most recent polls two children, and injured more
most important tourism regions, available have Biden with a slight than 40. The funeral was held for
drawing local and foreign tourists. lead, but within the margin of error. 10 people including 2 children.
Ơ BEHCET ALKAN Ơ PAUL HENNESSY Ơ ONUR COBAN

8 NEWSWEEK.COM NOV E M BER 13, 2020

 CL2C.WIS( FR2M T2P L(FT (+C(T AL.ANʔANAD2L8 A*(NC<ʔ*(T T<; PA8L +(NN(SS<ʔN8RP+2T2ʔ*(TT<; 2N8R C2%ANʔANAD2L8 A*(NC<ʔ*(TT<

NEWSWEEK.COM
9
10
 “Perhaps we should all step back, slow down
and take a clean, fresh breath.” » P.16

SU P R E ME C OU RT

Does
John Roberts
Still Matter?
Amy Coney Barrett’s conɿrmation means a diminished role
for the Chief Justice. Can he ɿght back"
R2%( RTS %< MA N D ( L N* A NʔW + I T( + 2 8S ( P2 2L ʔC 2R %I S ʔ VC *ʔ* ( T T <; T2 P R I * + T C AP PI T + 2 MPS2 Nʔ* ( T T <

chief justice john g. roberts jr. is smart, there had been only 16 chiefs before him. Of course
shrewd and funny. His mastery as a D.C. appel- he was thrilled to be No. 17. But Roberts understood
late lawyer—the best of his time, arguing 39 times the history of the Court. Even among the chiefs, he
before the Court—led admirers to say his middle said, there had been only one John Marshall, who
initial stood for God. (Alas, it’s “Glover.”) His rulings served for 34 years at the beginning of the 19th cen-
in controversial cases—including when he was the tury. Marshall wrote the seminal Marbury v. Mad-
decisive vote in 2012 to uphold Obamacare—play ison which established the Court’s authority over
the long game, planting the seeds for larger conser- the other branches—a role that the actual text of
vative triumphs his opponents now don’t realize. the Constitution hardly manifested. In the confer-
Only weeks after he was confirmed in 2005, when a ence room of the Court, where appeals are decided
light bulb exploded in the courtroom during argu- and where only the justices are allowed, Marshall’s
ment, he quipped, “It’s a trick they play on new chief portrait hung above the fireplace, gazing directly
justices all the time!” But for all his talents, few at at Roberts, who presided over meetings. Marshall
the Court profess to really know him. Although he’ll “had the opportunity to decide the great questions
chat with colleagues at lunch about last night’s game, because the Constitution was undeveloped,” Rob-
that’s about all anybody learns about what’s inside. erts told the clerks.
So it was astonishing several years ago that Rob- “It’s not like that anymore,” he said. “I was born
erts let his guard down. Law clerks were taking him in the wrong era.”
to lunch a few blocks from the build- But Roberts got lucky. Justice An-
ing. On the walk there, to make small thony M. Kennedy retired in 2018,
talk, one asked, “How do you like the BY
and with the swearing-in of Brett M.
job?” Instead of pablum like, “It’s the Kavanaugh, Roberts became the me-
privilege of a lifetime,” he showed his DAVID A. KAPLAN dian justice. Not exactly a true “swing
real self. Roberts reminded the clerks @dkaplan007 justice,” which might suggest flaming

Photo-illust rat ion b y G L U E K I T NEWSWEEK.COM 11

Periscope

moderation. He remained a die-hard

conservative who came of age during
Reagan days. On the Court, though,
on most contentious cases he just
happened to have four liberal justices
to one side and four conservative
justices on the other. He would be
the most powerful chief justice since
FDR’s term. And he was still in his ear-
ly 60s, the third-youngest member of
the Court. If he served until he was
87—the age at which Justice Ruth
Bader Ginsburg died in September—
he wouldn’t reach the halfway point of
his tenure until 2022. While Supreme
Court eras get named by whomever
sits in the center seat, the Roberts
Court really would be. And it was that
way for two years, as he cast pivotal
votes in such key areas as gerryman-
dering, abortion and religion.
But Roberts’ luck may have run out.
With Ginsburg’s death and Amy Coney
Barrett’s expected ascension, the chief
justice no longer is the midpoint.
Barrett likely will be the Newtonian
equal-and-opposite of Ginsburg. With
Kavanaugh, and Justices Samuel A. Ali-
to Jr., Neil M. Gorsuch and Clarence
Thomas, she will be part of a rock-sol-
id five-vote conservative bloc. Yes, yes,
you never know how a justice will
vote, but, no, no, you should have lit-
tle doubt. That alliance could issue rul-
ings that overturn Roe v. Wade, invali- declined to say. Too “abstract,” she chief justice superfluous.
date the Affordable Care Act, broaden protested. You never know if the Court Remember that the president
the rights of gun holders, allow claims would ever face the question, she said, harbors particular animus toward
of religious freedom to prevail over which is true of any question, which is Roberts. During the 2016 campaign,
claims of discrimination, reconsider why she gave virtually no substantive Trump regularly trashed the chief,
the right of same-sex couples to mar- answers—her strategy from the outset. whom he called an “absolute disaster.”
ry—and perhaps most significantly, Barrett, along with Gorsuch and “He gave us Obamacare! It might as
declare unconstitutional the entire Kavanaugh, are surely credentialed well be called RobertsCare!” Trump
federal regulatory regime. The jus- and competent, but that’s not why hollered during one of the debates.
tices have already made little-noticed any of them were anointed by the (Roberts hated it. After hearing his
inroads on the last one. And someday, conservative legal establishment name booed on TV during the GOP
maybe, Medicare will be in jeopardy. and appointed by President Donald convention that year, he confided his
Asked at her confirmation hearings Trump. All three were put on the indignation to a friend. “I’ve been a
about the constitutionality of the Court to vote a certain way in critical reliable conservative,” he complained.
54-year-old federal program, Barrett cases—and in a way that renders the “Don’t they realize?”)

12 NEWSWEEK.COM NOV E M BER 13, 2020

 SU P RE ME CO UR T

SHIFTING THE BALANCE

President Trump and Melania Trump
with Judge Amy Coney Barrett and
her family entering the Rose Garden at
the White House on September 20.

how they’ll vote on a legal question

about, say, immigration.)
With Barrett aboard, the new me-
dian justice in all likelihood will be
Kavanaugh. Even more than the fact
of Roberts’ two years occupying the
position, the change reflects just how
far rightward the Court will shift with
Barrett on it—and just how quickly
chance can transform the slowest,
steadiest branch of government.
When Roberts in June voted to pro-
tect the status of Dreamers under the
Deferred Action for Childhood Arriv-
als (DACA) immigration program, Ka-
vanaugh was on the other side. Same
thing three days later when Roberts
aligned with the four liberals to strike
down a Louisiana statute requiring
physicians performing abortions to
have admitting privileges at a nearby
hospital. Two weeks after, as a mo-
mentous term for the Court neared
an end, Roberts and Kavanaugh di-
verged on whether the Civil Rights Act
of 1964, which prohibits sex discrim-
ination, applied to gay and transgen-
der workers. Roberts said it did. And
As president, Trump kept up the
“Roberts’ luck may then in mid-October, Roberts voted

have run out. With

attacks, which widened to criticism with the three remaining liberals to
of federal judges generally. Roberts permit election officials in Pennsyl-
finally responded in a highly unusu-
Ginsburg’s death vania to count some mailed ballots

and Amy Coney

al statement to an AP reporter. “We received after Election Day. (His vote
do not have Obama judges or Trump resulted in a 4-to-4 deadlock, which
judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges,”
Barrett’s expected let stand a ruling by the Pennsylvania

ascension, the chief

Roberts wrote. “What we have is an ex- Supreme Court.)
2 L I V I ( R D 2 8 L I ( R<ʔAF Pʔ* (T T <

traordinary group of dedicated judges For Democrats and liberals, the

doing their level best to do equal right
justice no longer is Barrett-for-Ginsburg swap and the

the midpoint.”
to those appearing before them.” (Nev- rush job that made it happen—in
er mind that on an increasing number turn producing Kavanaugh-for-Rob-
of issues we do have Trump judges and erts—adds injury to the insult of the
Obama judges: look at who appointed events of 2016. Back then, Republicans
a judge and you’ve got a reliable gauge obstructed President Barack Obama’s

NEWSWEEK.COM 13
Periscope SUPREME COURT

nomination of Merrick B. Garland for more when it means consorting with the member of the Court with the
the seat that Gorsuch eventually took. the liberal wing with whom he shares most seniority. So, anytime he’s in the
All of that is why expanding the size of little by way of ideology. majority on a case he gets to decide
the Court became a talking point for Moreover, the way of continued who writes the opinion. That privi-
so many Democrats. importance lies in joining with the lege of assignment is rarely appreci-
Being on the Supreme Court is a other five conservatives, not with the ated by casual observers of the Court.
great gig—easy workload, best mar- remnants of the left. It’s not merely But the justice who writes the main
ble workplace in Washington, ulti- to be part of an ascendant majority. opinion can influence the direction
mate job security, the whole summer By tradition, the chief, though he gets of constitutional law for years, with
off. Being the chief is better, and being but one of nine votes and may not a subtle signal to future litigants
the chief is best when your vote rules. have served the longest, is deemed here or a seemingly innocuous aside
What’s John Roberts to do now? The there. Language matters. Much of the
best guess is he’ll wind up shifting power of William J. Brennan Jr., the
rightward. For starters, he’s less con- liberal lion of the Court from 1956
strained from following his conserva- “The way of continued to 1990, derived from his matchless
tive political instincts. It was one thing
to play the roles of incrementalist and importance lies in ability to form unexpected coalitions.
Though it helped he had a lot of lib-
institutionalist when he could control joining with the other eral leaners with him during many of
outcomes in cases and save the Court ˽ve conservatives, those years, not everyone was always
from the triumphalist instincts that
Thomas and Alito display without not with the remnants willing. Brennan did his cajoling not
with the Irish charm often ascribed
shame. There’s no point in that, all the of the left.” to him—but with words.
There’s nobody on the current
Court who’s better at words than
Roberts. It was that facility he demon-
strated in his straddle in the 5-to-4
Obamacare ruling. Conservatives
still rail about him being a turn-
coat—but that says more about their
obtuseness than his treachery. In that
ruling, Roberts was able to insert lan-
guage about reining in congressional
powers generally (though not in that
case) that a future conservative Court
will thank him for. During the many
months that produce opinions, coa-
litions form, dissolve and re-form. In
the Obamacare case, Roberts himself
shifted from one camp to the other,
finally siding with the liberals. To the
extent Roberts is now part of a group
of six conservatives—keep in mind it
only takes five to command a majori-
ty—he’ll realize there’s only so much

OPPOSITION Protestors dressed

as “handmaids” on the steps of the
Supreme Court on the last day of Amy
Coney Barrett’s nomination hearing.

14 NEWSWEEK.COM NOV E M BER 13, 2020

 PRESENT AT THE CREATION
Chief Justice John Marshall. While
serving as the Court’s fourth chief, he had
the power to shape constitutional law
in a way denied any of his successors.

courtroom in which a new justice is

formally installed. It’s takes under
10 minutes, but with dignitaries and
family there, it’s a big deal. The new
justice, seated at ground level in a
chair used by Marshall, hears some
nice words and then takes the bench.
Roberts recognized Kagan as “the
101st associate justice of the Supreme
Court of the United States.” That was
true enough, but it wasn’t how it had
been done before. The prior year, Soto-
mayor was the “111th justice,” without
the “associate.” Kagan should’ve been
112th. Roberts changed the script by
subtracting the chiefs who hadn’t
previously served as an associate jus-
tice. (Five had.) Now, there would be
one tally for associate and another for
chief. Kagan noticed. So did the other
justices. They each knew their number
he can do by assigning majority opin- erties in their own time they earned in the way every president knows his.
ions to himself. The others may balk in posterity. (Ginsburg has been called Why would a chief who revered Court
if he refuses to topple certain liberal the Great Dissenter of her time, but traditions mess with my number?
precedents or tries to play the institu- she had plenty of majority opinions Because it made his rank more
F R2 M L (F T D R ( W AN * (R ( R ʔ* ( T T <; L AWR ( N C( T + 2 R N T2N ʔARC+ I V ( P +2T2 S ʔ* ( T T <

tionalist card. The others will be able and her instincts favored consensus; exclusive. Silly? Sure. Vain? A bit. But
to do so because they don’t need his if the Court has a strident voice in the it tells you something about Roberts,
vote. But only fools would underesti- minority, it’s Sonia Sotomayor.) who has two bobbleheads in his cham-
mate Roberts’ ability to recalibrate. Anybody who knows Roberts ber, one of Abraham Lincoln and one
Other justices might not care. An- knows he has little interest in being a of himself. The current chief, with a
tonin Scalia, for one, showed little in- lone wolf or just part of the pack. He’s long reign still ahead but his Court
terest in winning allies. It was more renowned as an institutionalist be- taking a hard turn rightward, will not
satisfying—and easier—to write cause he loves the Court—its history, likely tolerate irrelevance.
archly, be witty, take shots. Everybody its purpose in constitutional design,
loves a character. On the left, William its mystery and majesty. Those are as Ơ David A. Kaplan, former legal
O. Douglas, from 1939 to 1975, was crucial to him as his twin policy agen- affairs editor of newsweek, is the
the same way—the darling of acolytes, das, the deregulation of political cam- author of the most dangerous
with little sway beyond. And there paigns and the eradication of racial branch: inside the supreme court
are a few justices in American histo- preferences. But his institutionalism in the age of trump (Crown, 2018),
ry who acquired influence as “great is also rooted in love for the role of from which some of this material is
dissenters.” What influence that John the chief. In his wily way, he doesn’t adapted. His other books include the
Marshall Harlan (1877 to 1911) or Oli- let anybody forget it. accidental president (William
ver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1902 to 1932) Consider Elena Kagan’s investiture Morrow, 2001). He teaches journalism
failed to earn by championing civil lib- in 2010. That’s the ceremony in the and law at NYU and CUNY.

NEWSWEEK.COM 15
Periscope

Is Legal Pot Good

for Business or
Good for Society?
Critics say it would do nothing but line the pockets
of big companies. Advocates say it would put an
end to some unjust law enforcement policies

FEDERAL LEGALIZATION
OF MARIJUANA WOULD
BE A TRAGIC MISTAKE
by Kevin A. Sabet, Ph.D

marijuana seems to be everywhere It’s a great theory.

these days. In the movies, on the But it’s never worked in practice.
school playground, in the senior cen- Legalizing marijuana is, at the end of
ter. It has united Martha Stewart and the day, all about one thing: money.
Snoop Dogg. A once-counterculture Let me rephrase: It’s about making
drug of the 1960s, it’s now the topic rich white men richer.
of annual reports and stock prices. It need not be that way. We have set
It’s even made it into the boardrooms up a false dichotomy between crimi-
of Big Tobacco, Pharma and Alcohol. nalization and commercialization. We
But we should slow this weed think we either have to give marijuana
train down. to Big Tobacco or we have to put users
2 L ( NA R8 %A Nʔ*( T T <

Legalization advocates often begin in private prisons. Neither of these are

with the well-worn saying that we good policy choices—thankfully, they
should not jail pot users. Instead, aren’t the only ones we have.
they say, we should regulate mari- Instead, we can look to the sci-
juana to gain tax revenue and reverse ence—and, despite popular belief,
social injustice. there is plenty we know about

16 NEWSWEEK.COM NOV E M BER 13, 2020

 marijuana that should give us pause.
Today’s weed is often 10 times stron-
ger than the stuff of 20 or 30 years
ago. More and more mental health
problems are linked to today’s
high-potency marijuana—a British
study finds schizophrenia risk quin-
tuples among regular users.
This tells me we need a policy of
discouragement and treatment—not
glamorization and commercialization.
But as a former Obama appointee,
I can’t think of something less pro-
gressive than what has gone on in
legalized states today.
Take Illinois, for example. They
tried to prioritize people of color in
the marijuana license process. The
result? Only 3 percent of the appli-
cants made the first cut, including
someone being paid $4 million
through mega-firm KPMG to grade
the actual applicants. Perhaps he will

“Altria Philip Morris

has put more than
$2 billion into the
pot industry.”

sell one of the products made by mar-

ijuana giant Cronos, who just hired
a former Big Pharma exec to lead its
company. Or perhaps he will sell some
of Big Tobacco’s pot products—after
all, Altria Philip Morris has put more
than $2 billion into the pot industry.
Not much social justice-ing going on.
To make matters worse, some in
Congress want to double down on
these policies. With wildfires raging
in the West, an out-of-control pan-
demic and unprecedented economic
hardships, leadership in Congress has
scheduled a vote on the MORE Act,
which would federally legalize and
commercialize marijuana.

NEWSWEEK.COM 17
Periscope T H E DE B AT E

It’s a payback to pot lobbyists for

their work. And no, the MORE Act is LEGALIZATION IS
not decriminalization, states’ rights THE ONLY WAY TO
or social justice—as advocates have
tried to paint it.
IMPROVE THE CRIMINAL
It’s blanket marijuana commer- JUSTICE SYSTEM
cialization. Unlimited potency, tax
breaks to pot companies for adver- by Major Neill Franklin (Ret.)
tising and—according to a national
trade group—the end of safety-sen- i spent 34 years as an officer with At this point, most people who
sitive drug testing for transportation the Maryland State Police and Bal- have studied this issue (including
workers as we know it. timore Police Departments, mostly Mr. Sabet) agree that the prohibition
Given what we have learned working narcotics cases, so Kevin of marijuana has been a catastrophe.
about youth use—surprise, it goes Sabet and I once stood on the same Police make hundreds of thousands of
up in legal states—stoned driving side of this debate. I retired in 2000, marijuana arrests each year—663,000
deaths (ditto) and the underground shortly after my friend and co-worker in 2018 alone—wasting time that
market (you guessed it, it gets stron- was murdered while buying drugs could be spent solving and prevent-
ger), this is not what our country undercover. After more than three ing serious crime. Black people are
needs right now. decades on the front lines, I realized arrested at many times the rate of
After all, according to the inde- that our efforts to eradicate marijuana white people, though both groups
pendent National Academy of the are not only futile, but are actively use marijuana at about the same rates.
Sciences, marijuana use has signifi- counterproductive to public safety. And these arrests follow young people
cant links to additional serious men- Legalization, not decriminalization, for life, preventing them from finding
tal health conditions—including is the only option that will actually jobs, housing, college scholarships
schizophrenia, anxiety, depression effect change. and eligibility for loans.
and suicide. Prolonged use has also
been shown to lower IQ and motor
function and can cause particular
damage to the developing brains of
young people. And we know this from
low-potency pot; the science is still far
behind when it comes to the mari-
juana readily available in “legal” states.
Perhaps we should all step back,
slow down and take a clean, fresh
breath and get back to work to put-
ting our country back together. Mari-
juana—and the Big Pharma, Tobacco
and Alcohol executives now in charge
of that business—certainly won’t
help us do that.

Ơ Kevin A. Sabet, Ph.D., served in

three White House administrations,
most recently as senior drug policy
advisor from 2009 to 2011. He is the
president of Smart Approaches to Mar-
ijuana. The views expressed in this arti-
cle are the writer’s own.

18 NEWSWEEK.COM
 Mr. Sabet argues that we should This also perpetuates huge racial dis- constitutional rights—such as the
decriminalize marijuana (“decrim”) so parities, because outdoor sellers are right to due process. The owner can
that using it is legal, but selling it is not. more likely to be people of color. And sue to get his/her property back, but
On its face, that seems to make sense. yet, this results in exactly zero effects the process is so expensive and com-
But this betrays a deep misunder- to the market, overall. plicated that in most cases, it would be
standing of how the criminal justice Here are some more rules police more expensive to challenge than to let
system actually works. And by the way, don’t like to talk about: the property go without a fight.
“decrim” was the failed alcohol model Claiming that you smell marijuana Under a legalization model, peo-
during Prohibition. in a car or a house is one of the easiest ple would buy from a regulated sup-
Much of the way police depart- ways to justify a search when you have ply chain, in which grow facilities
ments are evaluated—and, in turn, no legal reason for conducting one. The are monitored to ensure they follow
funded—is based on the number of absence of a smell is exceptionally dif- environmental laws and the product
arrests they make. In order to ensure ficult to prove after the fact, so it’s one stays within the legal system; in which
they make as many arrests as possible, of the most effective ways to deny peo- dispensaries are licensed, taxed and
departments evaluate their officers on ple their constitutional rights. Decrim subject to rigorous health and safety
CA R2 L IN ( %R ( + M A NʔC4 ʝ R2 LL CA L L ʔ* (T T <

the same basis, giving out promotions will not prevent these searches. In most inspections; in which security guards
and raises to those who bring in the states where we have decrim, the odor stand watch and gatekeepers verify
most arrests. of marijuana is still probable cause that every patron is of legal age; and in
As a result, a lot of low-level players to search a person, vehicle or home. which every business pays its rightful
are being thrown into the criminal jus- Because of this loophole, marijua- share of taxes and generates local jobs.
tice system. Many will never re-emerge. na-related searches are the police tool Under a decriminalization model,
of choice for money seizures under the only place to buy marijuana is
civil asset forfeiture programs—the through criminal organizations.
CANNABIS CAUCUS Activists
demonstrating for reform of federal most destructive aspect of the criminal Youth marijuana use has not risen
marijuana law in October 2019. justice system you’ve probably never in states that have legalized marijuana.
heard of. Criminal forfeiture programs Marijuana arrests have plummeted,
make a lot of sense. In civil forfeiture, and states have invested millions of
the police don’t need a conviction. new tax dollars in mental health treat-
They don’t even need to charge anyone ment, schools, law enforcement train-
with a crime. They just decide that an ing and addiction recovery resources.
asset or a certain amount of cash is the More than a quarter of the U.S. pop-
result of illegal activity, and they take it. ulation now lives in a state where mar-
They charge the property rather than ijuana is legal for adult use, while the
any person, because property has no nightmares predicted by opponents
have not come to pass. It is time to
change the debate from whether or
not to legalize marijuana to how we
legalize marijuana to build the safe,

“Police make hundreds just and healthy society we all want for
ourselves and our children.
of thousands of
marijuana arrests each Ơ Major Neill Franklin (Ret.) was a po-

year—663,000 in 2018 lice officer for 34 years and is now the

executive director of the Law Enforce-
alone—wasting time ment Action Partnership, a nonprofit of
that could be spent police, prosecutors, judges and other law

solving and preventing enforcement who advocate for changes in

the criminal justice system. The views ex-
serious crime.” pressed in this article are the writer’s own.

NEWSWEEK.COM 19
Periscope

BU S I NES S

What Your Zoom

Body Language
Says About You
The visual signals you convey in online meetings and
email speak volumes in the new era of remote work

we all under stand the is [about] the cues and signals that
importance of body language we send in our digital communica-
at work—the way that a colleague’s tion that make up the subtext of our
crossed arms might convey hostility messages. So it’s everything from the
or a manager’s feet on the desk might subject line that we use [in our emails]
be an attempt to show dominance. to our response time: Did we reply in
But how does that translate into the two minutes or in five minutes or in
digital realm, now that so many of five days?” Even subtle choices, like
us are working from home and con- whether you CC or BCC someone, or
ducting so much of our business lives the punctuation you use and whether
through online video? it seems abrupt, are part
That’s where Erica of the context in which
Dhawan comes in. Erica BY
your messages are
is the author of Get Big received. In other words,
Things Done and the DORIE CLARK the choice to address a
forthcoming Digital @dorieclark message as “Dear Erica”
Body Language, and vs. “Hey Erica!” is part of
recently joined me on my weekly how we “project through the body of
Newsweek interview show Better our language,” according to Dhawan. with additional follow-up.
(Thursdays 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT) to Then too, Dhawan says, that care-
discuss how professionals can com- Reading carefully is the new listen- lessness can cause people to lose trust
municate more effectively when ing. Nobody likes it when you’re in a in their leaders. Conversely, she says,
they’re operating digitally. She shared meeting and a colleague seems to be “If you’re showing that you’ve read
the following four tips. tuning out or not paying attention. things, that will lead to a whole new
That’s true on a video chat, as well. level of understanding, collaboration
Digital body language isn’t just But Dhawan says the same principle and trust in your work environments.”
about your body. You might imag- now extends to written communi-
ine that the phrase “digital body lan- cation, which has become so much Not everything has to be on video.
guage” simply refers to your facial more prevalent during work-from- You might think it’s a good idea to
expressions when you’re on Zoom. Of home. She cites the example of one have all your meetings on video, in
course, you want to make sure you’re executive who sent a text message to order to maximize engagement. That’s
not scowling on camera or looking his boss, Tom, asking, “Do you want to true up to a point, says Dhawan—but
bored, Dhawan says, but digital body speak Wednesday or Thursday?” And screen fatigue is real, and video isn’t
language is a much broader concept. Tom’s response to that was “yes.” That a panacea: “In video communication,
As she notes, “Digital body language created confusion and wasted time there are a lot of nuances. There are

20 NEWSWEEK.COM NOV E M BER 13, 2020

 BETTER.
A LinkedIn Live seri
es
with Dorie Clar
k
Thursdays at 12
p.m. ET
at newsweek.c
om/
linkedinlive

traditional body language,” she says,

“if you’re meeting someone for the first
time, you may shake their hand, greet
them with direct eye contact and sit
down at the table with a clear agenda
to run through a meeting with a Pow-
erPoint presentation.” In contrast, she
notes, “If you’re meeting with some-
one that you’ve known for a long time,
you may see them and hug them.”
Similarly, “If you’re meeting some-
one that you’ve never met before,
and maybe they’re senior to you in a
company or someone you’re trying to
sell something to, you would send an
email to their assistant to get on their
calendar. You wouldn’t just send them
a quick text.” Meanwhile, “If this is
someone who is a long-time colleague
or your assistant or teammate, you
may just jump on the phone because
you’re running around while homes-
chooling your kid, or you send a one-
liner email saying, ‘Call me right now.’”
There’s no universal right or wrong
way to handle digital body language,
screen freezes, or you’re on mute, or a meeting does rise to the level of she says—only right or wrong for a
there are interruptions that can get in video, she advises holding it before 2 given set of circumstances, and we
the way of psychological safety when p.m., “so people don’t have that Zoom should adapt accordingly.
people are brainstorming ideas.” exhaustion later in the day.” We’re all living in a digital world
“There’s also the fact that it’s not now, so it’s even more important to be
natural for us to actually see our own Don’t be afraid to adapt your style. clear on the messages we’re sending.
video on the camera, while we’re try- Just as you’d likely adjust your physi- By following these strategies, we can
ing to talk to other people,” Dhawan cal body language for various circum- regain control over our digital body
says. This can be particularly jarring stances, Dhawan says you should do language and how we’re perceived.
for introverts, who may feel pressure the same digitally. “In face-to-face,
to be “on,” if they’re on camera. As an Ơ Dorie Clark, author of entrepre-
antidote, she recommends prioritiz- neurial you and Duke University
ing whether a meeting should take Fuqua School of Business professor, hosts
“Screen fatigue
M I A . I ( V <ʔ* ( T T <

place via video—not all of them have newsweek’s weekly interview series,
to—and holding some via phone, or
even just having an email exchange is real, and video better, on Thursdays at 12pm ET/9am
PT at newsweek.com/linkedinlive.
if the topic is straightforward. If isn’t a panacea.” Sign up for updates at dorieclark.com.

NEWSWEEK.COM 21
 attempts by beijing to sow unrest
ahead of the election are just a small
p a r t o f c h i n a’ s l a t e s t e f f o r t s t o e x p a n d i t s
political and economic influence in the u.s.

THE
NEW by Didi Kirsten Tatlow
Illustration by Alex Fine

CHINA
SYNDROME
22 NEWSWEEK.COM NOV E M BER 13, 2020
 GETTING THE
MESSAGE OUT
Experts say that Beijing
works through hundreds
of community groups
in America to promote a
positive view of China in
the U.S. and establish
connections that will
help advance its political
and economic goals.

NEWSWEEK.COM 23
 O
ver the summer, as both the trump and
Biden campaigns ramped up efforts to win
the most controversial presidential election
in decades, Laura Daniels, Jessi Young and CAST OF
Erin Brown also got busy, posting critical CHARACTERS
From top: Deputy
comments about American politics and so-
Attorney General
ciety on Twitter and other social media plat- Jeffrey A. Rosen last
forms. They tweeted about mishandling of month discussing
charges related to
the COVID-19 pandemic. They posted about racial injustice. And
Chinese hackers;
they shared their views (not good) of the personal and political William Evanina,
scandals dogging President Donald Trump. head of the National
Counterintelligence
The three women appeared to be just like millions of other
and Security Center;
Americans who take to social media every day to express their cyber attacks tied to
displeasure at the state of the U.S. Yet there were anomalies. The China have targeted
the Biden campaign.
women’s messages were sometimes identical to others on Twitter
and Facebook. Their handles were similar and they tended to make
sweeping statements putting down America and its democratic sys-
tem, rather than referencing specific events. Their use of language
was off too, stilted or mixing up familiar expressions—“Black peo-
ple are never slaves! Stand up your high head!” read one of Jessi’s
more garbled tweets. And one more thing: Occasionally, a stray
Chinese-language character would slip into one of their posts.
That last part was especially odd—until you consider that the
women weren’t actually women at all but rather bots and trolls
used in a systematic campaign by groups affiliated with China to
sow division and unrest in the U.S. ahead of the 2020 election. An
analysis this summer of thousands of such Twitter and Facebook
posts by the International Cyber Policy Center of the Australian
Security Policy Institute described them as part of a program of
“cross-platform inauthentic activity, conducted by Chinese-speak-
ing actors and broadly in alignment with the political goal of the
People’s Republic of China to denigrate the standing of the U.S.”
The fake accounts are just one example of what appears to be
stepped-up activity by groups associated with China as Election
Day gets closer. Over the past six weeks, for example, both Google
and Microsoft have reported attempted cyber attacks linked to
Beijing that targeted individuals who worked with the Biden and
Trump campaigns. However, unlike Russian interference in 2016,
which worked to bolster Trump’s chances of election, most of the
activity stemming from China does not clearly favor one candi-
date over the other. Instead, it seems designed, as William Evanina,
director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center,
puts it, “to shape the policy environment in the United States, pres-
sure political figures it views as opposed to China’s interest and
deflect any counter criticism.”
Experts say the election-related activity is just a small part of a
much larger and deeper campaign of influence and interference by
China that’s been taking place over many years—and is a far more
worrisome threat long-term. Interviews with some two dozen

24 NEWSWEEK.COM
 WO RL D

There are also accusations of large-scale economic espionage. In a

speech this summer at the Hudson Institute, F.B.I. director Christo-
pher Wray said the agency opens a China-connected investigation
every 10 hours and that, of nearly 5,000 active counterintelligence
cases in the U.S., almost half are related to China.
Chinese authorities claim the U.S. distorts its dealings with local
community groups, and vehemently deny they are interfering in
U.S. internal affairs. But U.S. authorities and U.S.-China experts
stand their ground. “Justice, State, the F.B.I., they’re peeling back
the layers that have been hiding some of these organizations and
activities” says Dean Boyd, chief communications executive at the
National Counterintelligence and Security Center. As he tells News-
week, “The influencing has been going on non-stop, and it’s not
happening in a vacuum. There is an election coming up.”

Sowing the Seeds of Division

if the tweets of “jessi young” and her friends were all
you had to go on, China-linked efforts to manipulate U.S. public

newsweek has identified about

600 community groups in the u.s.
all in regular touch with and
g u i d e d b y c h i n a’ s c o m m u n i s t p a r t y.
F R2 M T2 P TAS2 S . AT2P 2D I S ʔ P2 2L ʔA FPʔ* ( T T <; W I N M C NA M ( (ʔ* (T T <; DR ( W A N* (R ( R ʔ* ( T T <

analysts, government officials and other U.S.-China specialists, as opinion in advance of the election might be easy to dismiss as
part of a four-month investigation by Newsweek, suggest there are amateurish and ineffective.
myriad other ways in which the Communist Party of China (CPC) The Chinese actors involved, for instance, made no attempt to
and other government-linked entities have been working, through create realistic profiles for the owners of the 200 to 300 Twitter
multiple channels in the U.S. at the federal, state and local level, to accounts involved, plus 60 or so more on Facebook. And while the
foster conditions and connections that will further Beijing’s polit- messages, posted between February and July of this year, focused
ical and economic interests and ambitions. on important issues dividing the country, they were so crudely
Those channels include businesses, universities and think tanks, translated into English, without a feel for American tone or ca-
social and cultural groups, Chinese diaspora organizations, Chi- dence, that the possibilities for engagement seemed limited.
nese-language media and WeChat, the Chinese social media and A sampling: “‘Janky System’ is a stupid, failed system!” “Patri-
messaging app, says John Garnaut, an Australian political analyst cia Smith” tweeted, along with a photo of Americans voting. “The
and expert on global CPC interference. Separately, Newsweek has Trump Administration has gone so far as to sacrifice our lives to get
identified about 600 such groups in the U.S., all in regular touch back to work to make the Dow Jones look good that they now treat
with and guided by China’s Communist Party—a larger-scale ver- us like human beings?” “Sonia Mason” tweeted, complaining about
sion of a pattern found in other countries around the world. federal response to the pandemic. “The overflow of freedom has
The scope of alleged activities is enormous, involving social and created the situation today,” said “Laura Daniels” in response to a
business gatherings, extensive information campaigns and build- tweet about a report on religion by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
ing political and economic ties that can be leveraged to Beijing’s “The Chinese are not really good at making fake social media
gain—recent reports of Hunter Biden’s business dealings with accounts,” says Ho-fung Hung, a professor of sociology at Johns
a Chinese energy company eager to connect with his father and Hopkins University and author of The China Boom: Why China Will
President Trump’s secret Chinese bank account are just the latest Not Rule the World. “The language is not very convincing.” In fact,
high-profile examples that some China watchers find worrisome. the Cyber Policy Centre found that, of the 2,240 tweets it analyzed,

NOV E M BER 13, 2020 NEWSWEEK.COM 25

99 percent got fewer than two likes, replies and retweets. Emerging Technology and a former national counterintelligence
But while this particular campaign may not have hit the mark, officer for East Asia. “We [in America] don’t think in these ways. It
some of the broad strategies it employed are ones that China uses flies in the face of how people in the U.S. see the world.”
quite effectively in other contexts—tactics very different from the While China’s influence efforts around the election have mostly
techniques that Russia has used in its election interference efforts. centered on process vs. outcome, U.S. intelligence officials believe
The social posts from Chinese actors did not have a clear partisan it’s clear the country’s leaders do have a favorite in the race. Lately
lean—for instance, they promoted messages in support of both the Beijing has stepped up negative rhetoric about the Trump admin-
Black Lives Matter and pro-police Blue Lives Matter movements. istration, harshly criticizing the White House on its statements
The point was not to take a side but rather to boost divisiveness by and actions on Hong Kong and TikTok, among other things, and
amplifying competing, emotionally-charged view points. blasting its COVID-19 response. “We assess that China prefers that
Nor did the Chinese campaign typically spread disinformation. President Trump—whom Beijing sees as unpredictable—does not
Instead it commonly shared authentic content from news sources win reelection,” said Evanina, the government counterintelligence
like The New York Times and MSNBC, along with tweets from civil director, in a statement this August. The Global Times, which is
rights groups, that highlighted racial divisions in the U.S. owned by the CPC’s People’s Daily newspaper, has also made it clear
“If people in the U.S. are looking [to China] for a repeat of Russia that China prefers the Democratic candidate, saying in a recent
in 2016, they will be disappointed,” says Garnaut. “That’s not what article, “Tactically, the US approach would be more predictable,
China does. They repurpose, they don’t smash.” In other words, the and Biden is much smoother to deal with than Trump.”
CPC is not out to destroy the U.S., experts say, but rather to change Another reason China would prefer to deal with the Demo-
or subvert it from within, and foster a positive view of China, in crats: The Biden ranks include many people from the previous
contrast to the apparent chaos in America. two Obama administrations, during which China made great
“They are very determined and very organized,” says Anna Puglisi, strides on the world stage and experienced little opposition. An-
a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and ti-China sentiment has heated up in the U.S. since then, as Trump

“ the chinese are not really g o od at making fake so cial

media accounts. the language is not very c onvincing.”
 WO R LD

very publicly addressed trade, influence and espionage problems, in politics, business and community at the state and local level.
ensuring that China policy going forward will be more critical, no In February, for example, Pompeo warned the National Gover-
matter who occupies the White House. But it’s not clear if the Dem- nors Association at a meeting in Washington D.C. that the CPC was
ocrats are willing to challenge China quite as deeply, if they win. identifying and grooming state and local politicians who would
FR2 M L ( FT FR ( D ( R IC -. %R2W NʔAF Pʔ*( T T <; N IC2 LAS AS F2 8R IʔA F Pʔ* (T T <; A L( ; W2 N* ʔ*( T T <

support its interests. A Chinese think tank had already graded gov-
Inʀuence at the Local Level ernors on their “friendliness,” Pompeo said. Newsweek obtained
two particular members of the trump entourage who and translated a copy of the 2019 report, which labeled 17 gover-
have been thorns in the CPC’s side are Pompeo and his policy ad- nors as “friendly;” called 14 “ambiguous,” deemed six as “hardline”
viser Miles Yu, who together have led the administration’s broad and the rest “unclear.” Pompeo told the governors, “Whether you
pushback against China. Lately Pompeo has been sounding an are viewed by the CPC as friendly or hardline, know that it’s work-
alarm about a key focus of CPC activity in the U.S.— interference ing you, know that it’s working the team around you.”
Six months later, at a meeting of economists and
sociologists in Zhongnanhai, a secretive leaders’ com-
pound in Beijing, Xi told more than a dozen top econo-
mists and sociologists that China would double down on
seeking “cooperation” with U.S. politicians and business
leaders at the state and local level, exactly what Pompeo
had warned about. “We must actively develop coopera-
tion with all countries, regions and enterprises willing to
cooperate with us, including states, localities and enter-
prises in the United States,” Xi said, according to Xinhua,
the state news agency.
In his talk, Pompeo gave several examples that he said
reflected an uptick in CPC interference at the state level.
In 2019, he said, diplomats at the Chinese consulate in
Houston wrote to the Mississippi governor, Phil Bryant,
threatening to cancel a Chinese investment in his state
if he traveled to Taiwan, the de facto independent island
nation that Beijing claims and says no one may have of-
ficial ties with. Bryant went anyway.
In another example, Chinese diplomats at the con-
sulate in Chicago wrote to a Wisconsin lawmaker, Re-
publican Roger Roth, asking him to sponsor a bill they wrote
praising China’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Wiscon-
sin Examiner reported. Roth initially ignored the request think-
ing it a joke. The Chinese diplomats sent it again. Roth replied
with one word: “nuts.”
Those two attempts may have faltered in the face of pushback, but
outreach often works, especially on the business level. Speaking on
background, one official described the pattern: “Say you are gover-
TENSIONS RISING nor of a state that has tremendous economic investments in China,
Left to right: Social
media campaigns tied to or that has a good relationship with China exporting soybeans or
China sought to amplify grain. China can use that relationship,” say, by asking their political
racial unrest in the U.S; or business contacts to make calls to Washington to try and influ-
a Chinese hacker at his
ofɿce in Dongguan, China; ence policy. It sounds like U.S. political lobbying, “but you have to
Secretary of State Mike know, it’s a foreign government playing this game,” the official says.
Pompeo, a vocal critic of In other countries, this kind of interference can be even more
Beijing, is often a target of
its ire on social platforms intense—and has already led to major problems, including threats
and in the media. to national security. In Australia, Chinese intelligence operatives

NEWSWEEK.COM 27
 WO RL D

allegedly conspired to place a financially-troubled, ethnic Chinese

person, Nick Zhao, in parliament as a spy, offering $1 million to
fund his campaign, according to multiple reports in the Australian
media last year. Zhao, in his 30s, was found dead of a drug overdose
in a Melbourne hotel room in 2019. That same year, China’s Min-
istry of State Security was reportedly responsible for cyberattacks
against Australia’s parliament and three major political parties that
provided access to policy papers and emails, according to Reuters.
In Canada, a special parliamentary committee set up in late
2019 is driving a rethink on China relations amid charges of “bra-
zen” interference. Earlier this year, a report was published that
detailed activities that China, along with Russia, had engaged in:
“using deceptive means to ‘cultivate relationships with elected of-
ficials and others perceived to possess influence in the political
process; seek to influence the reporting of Canadian media outlets;
seek, in some cases, to affect the outcome of elections; and coerce
or induce diaspora communities to advance foreign interests.’”
Europe too has begun to reexamine its relations with China
amid the shock of COVID-19 when, earlier this year, Beijing sent
very public medical aid to struggling nations, including Italy, ac-
companied by propaganda presenting China as a savior and ap-
pearing to try to weaken faith in the European Union. Then in
October, Sweden, spooked by a newly-adopted combative style of
diplomacy that the Chinese call “wolf warrior” and the kidnap-
ping and detention of a citizen in China, among other problems,
banned Huawei and ZTE, the Chinese telecom companies, from
its future 5G networks, citing concerns over “Sweden’s security.”
Earlier this year, Sweden also shut down all of the country’s Con-
fucius Institutes, a Beijing-funded program with the stated goal of
promoting Chinese language and culture that many viewed as a
propaganda tool. In the U.S. they have been permitted to remain
open but are designated as “foreign missions.”
In some ways, the U.S., at least until recently, has lagged in ex-
periencing the more aggressive actions that other nations have
documented and in exposing infractions, when discovered. That
may have partly to do with Chinese tactics, which are more care-
ful when aimed at the key “enemy,” says Ho-fung Hung, the Johns
Hopkins professor. Hung quotes a revolutionary saying by Mao
Zedong to illustrate his point: “Mao said, ‘gather your best forc-
es, annihilate the enemy one by one.’ Don’t take on the core first,
don’t take on the toughest opponent first,” Hung says. “Take on
;I N+ 8A ʔ*A2 -I ( ʔ* (T T <

the smaller and weaker ones, like Australia, Canada, New Zealand,
the UK. They have done that. The U.S. is the toughest nut to crack.”
But there are signs the U.S. is now taking the threat more seri-
ously. In July, the State Department shut China’s Houston consul-
ate over what it said was persistent technology theft and political
interference across a broad swathe of states in the south, southeast
and southwest, home of many energy and medical businesses and
advanced research. The Chinese government denies these activities.

28 NEWSWEEK.COM NOV E M BER 13, 2020

 UNITED FRONT
A government reception last month
to commemorate the founding of
the People’s Republic of China was
organized in part by the United
Front Work Department, which is
responsible for inʀuencing groups to
view China and its goals favorably.

NEWSWEEK.COM 29
 W O R LD

While the U.S. government has not released many details of what MIND GAMES
happened, several interviewees described a pattern of espionage by From bottom, left: Beijing
think tank co-founder
diplomats at the consulate aimed at major cities in the area. “Say, Wang Huiyao has multiple
you are a city manager and you have a giant medical industry, and ties to United Front
you also have giant collaborative relationships with China, well, inʀuencer groups; medical
supplies sent by China
then that manager is dependent on China,” said one official, who to help Italy during the
spoke on background. A Chinese diplomat might then feel free to pandemic were part of a
call the manager asking for a meeting with the state governor, or propaganda effort; the
Chinese consulate in
approval for a business project, or to oppose a motion criticizing Houston is now closed
China for human rights violations in Tibet or Hong Kong. “It’s very amid charges of espionage.
effective influence,” the official said.
“Houston was not chosen at random out of the con-
sulates out there,” said John C. Demers, an assistant
attorney general in the Department of Justice, in an
online event in August with the Center for Strategic
& International Studies. The consulate had long been
a center of nationwide activity to exert political pres-
sure and extract technology for China, several people
interviewed for this story said. In a sign of the scale
of activities, F.B.I. agents also conducted about “50
interviews in 30 different cities” across the U.S., with
Chinese researchers suspected of working to extract
technology—“just the tip of what was going on and
what we were trying to disrupt,” Demers said.

China’s Magic Weapon

F R2 M L (F T N I C+ 2 L AS . A M M ʔAF Pʔ* (T T <; ;I N+ 8A ʔ= + ( N * M (N *< 8ʔ* ( T T <; M A R . F (L I ;ʔAF PʔA F Pʔ* ( T T <
to help carry out its program of influence and
interference in the U.S., China relies on what Xi calls
the country’s “magic weapon:” the party’s “United
Front” system led by a Communist Party division called the Unit- “How many of you made the link between that group and Chinese
ed Front Work Department. Communist Party officials?”
This is “a network of party and state agencies responsible for “The United Front is part of China’s foreign policy, part of Chi-
influencing groups outside the party,” in and outside China, as Alex na’s intelligence apparatus and runs interference,” says Anne-Marie
Joske, a researcher on Chinese politics at the Australian Strategic Brady, a professor of Chinese politics at the University of Canter-
Policy Institute, has written. Traditionally, outside China, the Unit- bury in New Zealand. Tasks that it may be charged with include
ed Front has focused on overseas Chinese communities, appealing everything from making “friends” to outright espionage.
to their ethnic loyalty to persuade them to “repay the motherland.” The Chinese government has frequently denied the Front’s role
Personal benefit is often involved, with the system offering busi- in overseas influence and interference operations. Yet it allocates a
ness opportunities in exchange for good will and cooperation. large amount of money to its work, indicating it is a priority. The
Groups that are part of the system often have innocuous-sound- budget of the United Front system, both at home and abroad, was
ing names, like the Chinese Overseas Exchange Association. Run- more than $2.6 billion in 2019, Ryan Fedasiuk of Georgetown Uni-
ning parallel to the United Front is the Chinese government’s glob- versity’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology says. Nearly
al network of “friendship associations,” under the foreign ministry. $600 million of that was earmarked for work aimed at overseas
The U.S. organizations with which these groups cultivate ties may Chinese communities and foreigners, Fedasiuk calculates. The total
have no idea of their CPC affiliation. Pompeo, for instance, pointed budget outstripped the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s, he found.
out that the Governors Association had co-sponsored a U.S.-China
“Collaboration Summit” with a group called the Chinese People’s The United Front in Action
Association for Friendship and Foreign Countries, which is, in- a three-day summit that took place in mid-october at the
directly, tied to the United Front system. He asked the gathering, China Institute, a New York City non-profit, provides a classic

30 NEWSWEEK.COM NOV E M BER 13, 2020

 a chinese think tank graded governors
o n t h e i r “ f r i e n d l i n e s s . ” 1 7 g o v e r n o r s w e r e d e e m e d “ f r i e n d l y, ”
1 4 w e r e “a m b i g u o u s , ” s i x w e r e l a b e l e d “ h a r d l i n e ”
and the rest “uncle ar.”

example of how the United Front works. The event, titled “Find- status and favors, says Yaqiu Wang, an analyst for Human Rights
ing Success in an Age of Crisis,” promised to help participants fig- Watch in New York City. China’s diplomatic system, in turn, con-
ure out how to “achieve success in the face of strained U.S.-China nects through them to local Chinese-language communities.
relations and a volatile world.” Some groups assist in technology transfer—acquiring technolo-
The event featured an illustrious line-up of panelists from U.S. gy developed by U.S. companies for use by Chinese companies—a
business, academia, technology, media, diplomacy and politics, in- crucial goal of the party’s influencing and interfering. The system
cluding Rick Snyder, former governor of Michigan, and Stapleton J. also permeates the Chinese-language media in the U.S, shaping the
Roy, a founder of the Wilson Center’s Kissinger Institute. Yet what information environment.
participants likely didn’t know: Three of the four “knowledge part- Newsweek has identified the following types of organizations
ners” are directly or indirectly part of the United Front. as affiliated with the United Front in the U.S.: at least 83 Chinese
The Beijing-based China Center of Globalization, a think tank, hometown associations for immigrants from the same place in
is one of them. The organization was co-founded by Wang Huiyao, China; 10 “Chinese Aid Centers;” 32 Chambers of Commerce; 13
who is also a deputy chairman of the Western Returned Students Chinese-language media brands; about half of the 70 associations
Association, a United Front Work Department group, says Joske, for Chinese professionals; 38 organizations promoting the “peace-
who has documented Wang’s multiple connections to the United ful reunification” of China and Taiwan; five “friendship organiza-
Front. The others were the China General Chamber of Commerce tions” and 129 other groups engaged in a range of activities such as
USA and the China General Chamber of Commerce USA Chicago, education and culture. In addition, there are 265 Chinese Student
both among the groups Newsweek has linked to the CPC system. and Scholar Associations for the approximately 300,000 Chinese
Asked for comment, the China Institute replied that it “chose to students in the U.S. These are connected to CPC politics, often via
engage with these organizations because of their large member- Chinese diplomats, usually the education secretary in a consulate.
ships and connection to the issues and topics that are a priority The groups were identified by evaluating crossover membership,
today. We wanted to ensure they were engaged in the conversation.” regular joint activities, events indicating ideological alignment,
Importantly, members of these groups, most of them ethnic high-level meetings that can only be obtained by being part of a
Chinese, may not be aware of the organization’s ties to the China CPC-trusted system and by crosschecking names, positions and
party-state. Individuals may join for a sense of community or a cooperative events described in hundreds of Chinese-language gov-
business opportunity. Despite that, the groups may compete to ernment and party documents and Chinese state media reports as
be close to the Chinese embassy and its consulates hoping to gain well as reports by the groups themselves.

NEWSWEEK.COM 31
NO LOVE LOST
A year after his election, U.S.
President Donald Trump, here
with Chinese President Xi
-inping at a welcome ceremony,
visited Beijing. Things have
gone downhill between the
two leaders ever since.

32 NEWSWEEK.COM NOV E M BER 13, 2020

 WORLD

The level of influence and interference activity ranges from sim-

ple efforts to promote a positive view of China to outright espio-
nage. The latter was the case in late September, when a New York
City policeman of Tibetan origin from China, a naturalized Amer-
ican citizen and army reservist, was arrested and charged with
acting as an illegal agent of the Chinese government. His handler
in the Chinese consulate in New York City worked for the China
Association for Preservation and Development of Tibetan Culture,
which is part of the United Front, according to charges laid out
by the Department of Justice. Allegedly the policeman spied on
Chinese citizens living in the New York area to help assess their
potential as intelligence sources and provided Chinese officials
with access to the NYPD through invitations to police events.
Start digging and the number of groups in the U.S. with ties
to the United Front seem endless. The Committee of 100 (C100),
a New York-based advocacy group for Americans of Chinese ori-
gin that was founded nearly 30 years ago with the help of Henry
Kissinger, is another, according to multiple reports in Chinese-lan-
guage media and United Front organizations. The website of the
United Front Work Department in the Chinese city of Nanjing
identifies U.S. businessman and C100 chairman H. Roger Wang
as an honorary chairman of the Nanjing Overseas Friendship As-
sociation, which is a city-level branch of the United Front’s global
China Overseas Friendship Association.
Upon his election to the board in 2018, Wang talked enthusias-
tically about key CPC projects such as the Belt and Road Initiative,
in which China committed to invest in infrastructure projects in
nearly 70 countries. The U.S. did not join, seeing the initiative as an
attempt by Beijing to project its power around the world. “There
are so many areas that C100 can get actively involved in now, in-
cluding the Belt and Road Initiative,” Wang said in an interview
with China Daily. Xi Jinping has described C100 as a “friendly orga-
nization” and the group regularly meets with top Chinese leaders.
Asked for comment, Fulton Hou, a program associate at C100
emailed, “We firmly oppose any efforts by a foreign government
or a political party—from China or elsewhere—to influence or
undermine American society and democracy. Our dual mission is
to promote the full participation of Chinese Americans in Amer-
ican life and to advance a constructive Sino-American dialogue.”
Is there anything wrong with that? Not on the surface, but
what’s beneath the surface is harder to discern. “How to deal with
China is a question everybody has to face,” says Alvin Y.H. Cheung,
;I N + 8A ʔ L I TA2ʔ* ( T T <

a research fellow at NYU’s U.S.-Asia Law Institute. “The relationship

with the CPC is like any other. You have to set boundaries.”

Ơ Didi Kirsten Tatlow is a senior fellow at the German Council on

Foreign Relations in Berlin and at Projekt Sinopsis in Prague, and
a journalist who began reporting from China in 1995. Cheryl Yu
contributed research for this story in the U.S.

NEWSWEEK.COM 33
34 NEWSWEEK.COM
 asked to imagine an inventor, most people probably picture a lone genius
toiling in solitude: Einstein working out physics formulae or Edison in his pat-
ent office or Steve Jobs in his garage. But some of the most creative and dedi-
cated inventors are surrounded by other—often much younger, smaller—peo-
ple. They’re educators—a category that includes parents. They’re working to
raise the next generation of scientists and engineers by providing new ways
of learning. ¶ Behind these parents and teachers is an army of tinkerers, toy-
makers and entrepreneurs who continue to innovate, providing fun ways for
students of all ages to internalize the science, technology, engineering and math
skills they will need. And with many of our children being schooled from home
these days, it’s more important than ever for families to know which resources
they can rely on. ¶ We’re proud that Newsweek partnered with STEM.org to
highlight the toymakers and brands that help strengthen STEM education. We
wish a happy and engaging time to all the innovators out there, large and small.
Ơ ANDREW B. RAUPP, Founder & Executive Director at Stem.org Educational Research™

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Culture HIGH, LOW + EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN

UN C H AR TE D

Otherworldly
Natural Phenomena
You’ve Got to See
The Seven Wonders of the World are famous, but what about those that didn’t
quite make the cut? Take our word for it—they are just as worth seeing. But
visits to some of these marvels need to be timed just right, as they only happen
a few months out of the year. Whether it’s a special chemical reaction or a
synchronized mating ritual, these splendors deserving a spot in your schedule.
In every corner of the world, Mother Nature has something up her sleeve
that continues to shock visitors year after year. —Alexandra Schonfeld

N A P+ AT P + 2T2 GR A P+ YʔG E T T Y

44 NEWSWEEK.COM NOV E M BER 13, 2020

SARA GILBERT ON THE CONNERS
The family that’s suited to handle the pandemic
and calm the country post-election. » P.48

LAKE ABRAHAM
ALBERTA, CANADA
Each winter, as this lake begins to
freeze over, what happens under
the surface is much more curious
than what meets the eye. Bubbles
of methane form on the ʀoor of the
lake throughout the year and as the
temperatures drop, the orbs rise and
freeze at various heights in the water.
These beautiful patterns can be
dangerous though; if a bubble cracks,
highly ʀammable gas is released.
(See number 1 on the following page)

NEWSWEEK.COM 45
Culture

02 Synchronous Fireʀies
Great Smoky Mountains,
Tennessee and North Carolina
Did you see that? In a rare occurrence of non-human
life working in mysterious ways, thousands of ɿreʀies
gather together and ʀash simultaneously every few
seconds during their mating ritual, which lasts for only
two weeks a year, usually sometime during May or June.
5
1

01 Lake Abraham
Alberta, Canada
See previous spread Starling Murmuration
05
United Kingdom
In what mimics a dark cloud
2
moving through the air
every fall across the United
Kingdom, onlookers can
witness this amazing display
of animals working in ways
humans have yet to fully
understand. Anywhere from
hundreds to thousands of
these birds group together,
4 creating this synchronized
dance in the sky.
3

0  + A2;I AN G YAN G ʔG E T T Y; J2RGE IVAN VAS4 U E= CUA RTASʔG E T T Y; 0  C + R I ST I AN

03 Caño Cristales
Meta, Colombia

P I NI L L2 S AL AS ʔG E T T Y; 0 2WE N + U M P+ R E YSʔ PA I MAG ES ʔG E T T Y

During part of the year, red algae ʀowers make this 04 Catatumbo Lightning
river in the National Park of La Macarena shine a Maracaibo, Venezuela
vibrant ruby red color. The peak time to see the Where the Catatumbo River meets Lake Maracaibo,
colors in full form are late summer to early autumn. lightning does, in fact, strike twice. It has been
known to ʀash up to 0 times per sTuare
kilometer . mile per year, leading to up to
300 storm days annually, with the best time for
viewing June through November. NASA says it is
the highest concentration of lightning on earth.

46 NEWSWEEK.COM
 06 Crooked Forest
Gryɿno, Poland
What might appear to be a regular grove
of trees from a distance is far from that
6 upon closer inspection. Around 00
pine trees, each less than 100 years old,
make up what is known as the “crooked
forest” due to the inexplicable way each
one developed with a crooked trunk at
its base before straightening back up.

07 Sea of Stars
Vaadho, Maldives
The Maldives is known for its beautiful turTuoise
waters and bungalows, but what’s going on just
under the sea is at least as impressive. In the
late summer, the reefs around the Maldives
ɿll with bioluminescent phytoplankton;
ignited by the movement of the waves, they
make the water glow like a star-ɿlled sky.

8
0 6 MBPROJEKT_MACIE J_BLED OWSKI ʔG E T T Y; 0 7 ATAN AS B O= + I KOV N ASKOʔ
G E T T Y 0 8  S OPO N C+ I E NW I T TAYA KUN ʔG E T T Y 0 9  IAN FORSY T+ ʔG E T T Y

09 Nacreous Clouds
Antarctica
While these shimmering
iridescent clouds visible
mainly in the polar regions
are eye-catching, they are
in fact Tuite dangerous to
the ozone layer. Occurring
08 Kawah Ijen Crater only at very high altitudes
Java, Indonesia when the temperature
While lava typically appears bright red or orange, drops enough to crystallize
due to a chemical reaction when sulfur meets the the moisture in the air,
air at this volcano, the lava shines a bright blue color the light reʀects off of
that is only really visible after sundown. Visiting these crystals to create a
this region is not for the faint of heart, though, due lustrous, mother-of-pearl
to the presence of toxic gases that make this act of effect—and a destructive
nature possible—but also inhospitable to humans. chemical reaction.

NEWSWEEK.COM 47
Culture

PA R T I NG S HO T

Sara Gilbert
if there’s one family uniquely qualified to self-isolate, it’s the How are the Conners holding up
Conner family of Lanford, Illinois. “They don’t really have friends. We make amid the pandemic?
jokes about it.” The iconic TV family from Roseanne tackles the pandemic in the The Conners are well equipped
third season of the reboot The Conners on ABC. Not only does Sara Gilbert reprise because they’re constantly in crisis.
her double Emmy-nominated role of Darlene, she also serves as an executive They’re like, okay, this is the next
producer. “I’m just so extremely grateful to be shooting anything,” Gilbert says hurdle we have to get through in this
about filming during a pandemic. “Without an audience, it’s a bit of a challenge life, and they just take it more in stride.
to get your energy up to performance level.” Like most Americans, the impact of
COVID-19 has also impacted the fictional family financially, with Darlene and Why are the Conners so relatable
Becky forced to work at the local factory where Roseanne and Jackie worked amid the country’s polarization?
in the original series. Even though the pandemic is a tough story line to tackle, We’re pretty imperfect. In terms of the
particularly for a comedy series, it’s a reality many can relate to right now. “I feel country, it’s also a family with varying
like that’s the truth for so many Americans who are smart and driven and do belief systems. But they still love each
everything they can and can only get to a certain place in their dreams.” other and come together in laughter
and love. Dan and Darlene are at odds.
It’s a way for people to see a family
stay close amid those differences.
“I feel that That’s where I hope we land. I feel that

we’re all able to, we’re all able to, as a country, really
talk and really listen to each other.
as a country,
really talk and Is there a moment or episode from

really listen to the original series that stands out?

Probably “Darlene Fades to Black.”
each other.” People weren’t talking about that in
sitcoms, teenage characters being
so depressed they don’t want to
get off the couch. And I think that’s
something so many kids deal with.

Darlene and Becky return to the

plastics factory. Why?
Darlene is a character that everybody
thought was gonna get ahead and
break the poverty cycle, and she was
smart and ambitious and driven.
A M ES W + I T EʔCBSʔG E T T Y

In spite of that, she hasn’t been able

to do it, and she’s kind of back
at square one this season. I like
what it’s saying about this country
socioeconomically. —H. Alan Scott

V I S I T N E W S W E E K . C O M F OR T H E F U L L I N T E RV I E W
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