Protests calling for urgent action to address the climate crisis have surged across the United States. On Thursday, two protesters smeared red and black paint on a display case of artworks at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, urging President Biden to declare a climate emergency. This follows demonstrations earlier this week outside the offices of banking giants Citibank in New York and Wells Fargo in San Francisco. A new study titled Banking on Climate Chaos finds that the world’s largest private banks have lent $5.5 trillion to fossil-fuel projects since the Paris Climate Agreement was passed.

On Tuesday, climate activists interrupted a talk by John Podesta, who heads the White House Office of Clean Energy Innovation and Implementation. They called on the Biden administration to reverse its permit for ConocoPhillips’ Willow project in northern Alaska and to act quickly to end fossil fuel use.

protester: “We have never needed fossil fuels. You have to stop supporting it. You will be complicit in the destruction of Mother Earth and everyone’s future.”

John Podesta: “I appreciate their passion. And we are trying to create a creative transition that goes to zero by 2050.”

protester: “Too late!”

John Podesta: “You have a point of view” —

protester: “That’s too late!”

Unknown: “30 years” –

protester: “That’s too late!”

The protest was organized by Climate Defiance, a new organization that has vowed to disrupt the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, DC this weekend.

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According to Chinese expert Gordon Chang, the Biden government needs to move faster to launch a full-scale campaign to counter the threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

Overall, the government is “moving in the right direction,” Chang told the Epoch Times’ American Thought Leaders program. “But we’re not moving fast enough.”

It’s dangerous, said Chang, because “what China is doing can bring our system to a standstill.”

“We’re not getting the right posture with the right tools fast enough,” he said.

After more than three months in President Joe Biden’s tenure, many key Trump administration-initiated China policies are still being “reviewed” to use White House terminology.

According to Chang, some of the guidelines Biden has issued so far regarding dealing with the regime have been “cruel” while others have been “really good.” Positive developments included US sanctions against Chinese supercomputer companies.

One measure Chang questioned was Biden’s January executive action to combat racism and xenophobia against Asian Americans amid the pandemic. The measure was adopted in part in response to then-President Donald Trump, who used the term “China virus” to describe the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) virus originating in Wuhan, China. The memorandum instructed federal agencies to ensure that the language used “does not include or contribute to racism, xenophobia and intolerance towards Asian Americans and Pacific islanders.”

Biden’s action actually mirrored a CCP narrative claiming that the use of the term “China virus” or “Wuhan virus” is increasing discrimination and violence against Chinese and ethnic Chinese peoples overseas, Chang said . This narrative was touted as part of the regime’s drive to divert attention from the cover-up of the early outbreak, as well as the possibility that the virus leaked from a laboratory in Wuhan.

“The President of the United States shouldn’t repeat what China says, especially because what China says is incorrect,” said Chang. “So I think that’s terrible.”

Chang also opposed Biden’s May 2020 suspension of the Trump Regulation, which paved the way for carriers and utilities to purchase equipment from countries that pose a risk to US national security, such as China. On January 20, Biden suspended Trump’s appointment for 90 days and asked the Secretary of Energy and the White House Bureau of Administration and Housekeeping Director “to work together to see if a replacement appointment should be recommended.”

“I can understand that he wants to review the Trump guidelines … but at least he should have kept protection while doing this review,” said Chang.

“China has been researching our critical infrastructure,” he said. “You could … do in the US what you did in India’s financial capital late last year.”

In February, a New York Times report reported that the power outage in Mumbai, India, on October 12, 2020, was part of a Chinese cyber campaign against India as the two countries were embroiled in a fierce border war. At the time, local authorities said the bug was due to “technical issues” but an Indian minister said in March that it could have been the result of cyber sabotage, adding that it was being investigated.

Chang said that Biden himself was predisposed to have a cooperative relationship with the Chinese regime, but was forced to take a tougher stance due to Beijing’s aggressive behavior internationally and American public opinion turning against the regime .

“What is happening is that China is engaging in behavior that no one can really stand,” he said. “It forces him [Biden] adopt more robust guidelines. “

Chang expressed concern about Biden’s personal attitude towards the regime and its leader, Xi Jinping.

“It is just a mystery that Biden made many gifts to the Chinese. He didn’t ask anything for it, ”he said. “I just don’t understand why he would do this.”

He was particularly concerned about “the way [Biden] speaks lovingly to his meetings with Xi Jinping. “

“I don’t know why the Chinese leader put Biden under his spell,” said Chang.

Biden often references his long relationship with Xi when talking about the Chinese regime. While Biden was vice president, Xi was the regime’s vice chairman, Biden’s counterpart at the time. During that time, the two had spent more than 24 hours in private meetings and 17,000 miles together, according to Biden.

In February, Biden said of Xi, “I know him well. We spent a lot of time together in the years I was Vice President. “

Chinese infiltration

Chang was alarmed by the breadth of the CCP’s efforts to infiltrate American politics and society.

“China has simply overwhelmed our society,” he said. “They overpowered the FBI, they overpowered local law enforcement and local governments.”

He took the example of Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) An, a member of the House Intelligence Committee who previously had ties to an alleged CCP spy named Fang Fang or Christine Fang.

A December 2020 report by Axios claimed that Fang had built an extensive network of contacts with emerging politicians in the San Francisco Bay Area, including Swalwell. The report said Swalwell cut ties with her after investigators gave him a “defense brief” and provided information about her to the FBI.

Chang noted that Fang first contacted Swalwell when he was a Councilor for the City of Dublin, California, from 2010 to 2012.

“That means they probably only looked at Swalwell with the possibility that one day he might become valuable to them,” he said.

“This suggests that there is more than one Eric Swalwell. There could be dozens, there could probably be hundreds of swalwells, which means there are dozens and hundreds of Christine Fangs. “

It is time to remove the CCP’s influence from American society, Chang said.

“They infiltrated the government, they infiltrated the media, science and business, as you call it.

“If it’s an institution, China has tried to penetrate it.”

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