New Analysis
As large amounts of counterfeit money keep finding its way into the United States, a Chinese commentator reminds the U. S. of a tactic that the Chinese Community Party (CCP) used to overturn the Kuomintang government in the 1940s.
Following the seizure of a shipment of counterfeit U.S. bills and coins from China last month, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced Tuesday (May 18) that it had again intercepted several shipments of counterfeit bills from China totaling $685,000.
CBP said the counterfeit notes were sent to the U.S. as “prop money,” in violation of federal law prohibiting the reproducing of currency.
The counterfeit notes arrived at the International Mail Facility (IMF) in Chicago between May 15 and 17 and were prepared for shipment to various U.S. cities, including those in Illinois and Indiana.
The counterfeit bills were in denominations of $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100. One of the shipments was destined for the Bronx, New York, and contained 976 $100 bills.
The other shipment was destined for Louisville, Kentucky, and contained 101 $20 and 103 $50 bills.
CBP said it has turned over the counterfeit money to Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Secret Service for further investigation.
CBP officials in Chicago also announced last month (April 23) that they had seized 281 shipments containing counterfeit bills and coins, and 95 percent of the shipments came directly from China.
In addition, on April 6, Chicago CBP officials announced that they had seized more than 100 shipments of counterfeit currency, almost all from China, with a total value of more than $1.64 million.
The shipments arrived in the United States between Jan. 1 and March 31. The counterfeit money included U.S. dollar bills, silver dollars, and Euros.
In October last year, Chicago Customs announced it had seized more than $10.6 million in counterfeit currency between October 2019 and September 2020. Out of the 360 shipments seized, 280 came from China.
In June 2020, the CPB intercepted a shipment of 100-dollar bills from Shanghai to a Milwaukee residence that totaled $351,500.
In May 2020, $252,300 of counterfeit currency was seized in Cincinnati. The shipment of 2,523 $100 bills was from Shenzhen and headed to Guthrie, Oklahoma.
According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, China is the top country for smuggling counterfeit goods into the U.S. market.
CBP made 27,599 counterfeit seizures in the fiscal year 2019. These goods would have had an estimated retail price of more than $1.5 billion if they were genuine.
Among the seizures in 2019, 13,293, or 48 percent, originated from China, followed by Hong Kong at 35 percent (9,778 seizures).
Will CCP Try Tactics Used Against the Kuomintang on the US?
Tony Choi, a TV host in Hong Kong, said during his show on May 20 that the CCP is likely using the same tactics it used 75 years ago against the Kuomintang government, the legitimate government of China at the time, to also bring down the United States.
Choi said, “If these counterfeit bills continue to be imported, they may bring down the U.S. economy.”
Choi believes that because we are in an electronic era, the impact of counterfeit bills on the U.S. will not be too great, “The CCP will use the fake money for criminal activities and illegal transactions including drugs and arms.”
In the 1940s, during China’s civil war between the CCP and the Kuomintang-led government, the Communist Party obtained large quantities of counterfeit currency from the former Soviet Union, and then sent it to the areas still ruled by Kuomintang using various underground channels.
As a result, there was a serious surplus of money in the Kuomintang-ruled regions, and the prices of all sorts of goods skyrocketed.
To tackle the problem, in 1948, the Kuomintang government decided to issue a new currency, the Chinese Gold Yuan, to replace the previous Fabi currency.
However, this move paralyzed the flow of goods, prices continued to soar, and the Gold Yuan depreciated sharply.
These eventually culminated in an economic collapse. Only 14 months later, the Kuomintang was driven out of China, and the CCP took power and established the People’s Republic of China.
An article published in the “Weekend” magazine, whose publisher is the party branch of the CCP in Dongying City, Shangdong Province, also talked about the CCP transporting large amounts of Gold Yuan to the Kuomintang-ruled areas, after the CCP “confiscated” the Gold Yuan in the regions that the CCP took from the Kuomintang.
The article said the purpose for doing so was “to hasten the complete collapse of the Kuomintang reactionary regime in Nanjing.”
Tony Choi said, the CCP is likely doing what it had done before, and “is using the same tactics, it used against the Kuomintang 75 years ago, to bring down the U.S.”
