On Friday, June 20, 2025 the Committee on the Present Danger: China, hosted a webinar on potential impact of the mullahocracy’s demise, or alternatively, its survival on the regional and global ambitions and prospects of the Chinese Communist Party?
Would the actual unconditional surrender of Red China’s ally – with all that portends for Communist China’s energy imports and its colonial Belt and Road Initiative build-out and associated presence and power-projection – make more or less likely its aggressiveness in the Pacific, or elsewhere? Conversely, what would be the implications if the CCP’s proxy survives and lives to continue its clandestine nuclear activities, support for terrorism and destabilization of the Middle East and Western Hemisphere?
Here is the corrected transcript of the interchange between ConservativeHQ Editor George Rasley and CHQ Contributor and President of the Institute for the American Future, Frank Gaffney.
Frank Gaffney: Thank you for indulging me on some of my comments, as well as those of Rabbi Pesach Wolicki. I think we've really drawn for this issue of unconditional surrender and whether there is actually any alternative to a decisive victory that includes it and the end of the regime, we're going to explore it a little bit further. And by the way, I neglected to mention that the topic that I think the rabbi has just addressed so powerfully is was given as the implications of a victory for sharia supremacism in the spiritual and unrestricted warfare battle spaces. The latter, of course, being the one the Chinese are very much engaged in. We have another brilliant as it happens member of our Committee On The Present Danger: China by the name of George Rasley who is going to take an independent and American view of some of those same topics. He is these days the managing. Excuse me, the editor in chief of conservative HQ. Richard Viguerie wonderful online newsletter he brings to that position a wealth of experience in politics, having been involved in some 300 campaigns and service in the executive branch, in the office of the Vice President and on Capitol Hill and senior positions as well. George is the man we've turned to talk about what a defeat for Iran would mean in terms of a defeat, as well for the Chinese Communist Party and some related topics as to whether we're going to get to either of those outcomes. I'm looking at America first, looking at a sort of schism that touched on inside MAGA, the Make America Great Again team, and Trump's choice as to how to proceed. Let's go to the video in this case with George Rasley also taped on our show today.
George Rasley: I think it's important to recognize that Red China is Iran's number one trading partner, and 68% of Iran's exports are oil and related products. 35% goes to China. That is a big chunk of the Chinese oil supply. And it's also a supply that's more or less off the books because of sanctions. And so it comes to them at a discount. And it would be very discomforting for the communist Chinese economy to lose that discounted oil supply. And if a democratic, peaceful regime were to replace the mullahs, it would actually help stabilize world oil prices at a lower level, because it would put the Iranian oil supply back on the world market legitimately. And that supply would, of course, as we learned in Economics 101, more supply equals lower price.
And so there are a lot of benefits there. Additionally, the Chinese have a lot of interchange with the Islamic Republic on matters of terrorism support, all kinds of domestic security arrangements, weapons. Et cetera. Et cetera. So, there's a lot of benefit of getting rid of the Islamic Republic in terms of weakening Red China.
Frank Gaffney: Obviously, the Chinese are, as you know, so well at least or aggression against Taiwan would be that if an ally like Iran goes away, that will induce the Chinese to be less aggressive. Or do you think they might be more so against Taiwan and us, for that matter?
George Rasley: Probably President Trump's greatest folly would be waiting. It gives the theocracy two weeks to continue to work on their nuclear weapons. It gives them two weeks to further harden wherever those weapons are stored. It gives them two weeks to take out potential leaders of a new democratic Iran. And it does nothing to enhance our position. Should we decide to, to go to war? And it also gives them two weeks to move things here in the United States that we know they have. We know they have hit squads here. We know they have terrorist cells here. And why we would give them two weeks to put those terrorist cells and hit squads into motion is astonishing. And I can only believe that you know, the internal debate in the White House is what has given President Trump pause. There's no real rational explanation for this. I mean, I think the president sees himself as a as a peacemaker, as a global figure for good. And you know, that's part of his self-image. And I think it's blinded him to the reality that this needs to happen now. And that regime change is the only thing that's going to end Iran's nuclear weapons program.
Frank Gaffney: You have extensive experience with political matters. Let me ask you. I've come to the conclusion that a prime factor in the president's sort of fixation with this idea of being the peacemaker is shall we say, pressure, or at least the appeal of young people made [00:47:00] up of part of the MAGA movement. I've come to call this a Children's crusade. In fact, as these kids who seemingly know nothing about, you know, the realities of well, the Middle East for the moment among other things, are so insistently demanding that he stand down. Could you walk us through what this all means for the MAGA movement, as well as possibly this presidency?
George Rasley: I think there's a dichotomy that we have to recognize here, Frank. One is that there's this group of so-called influencers, you know, people who have big followings on X and Facebook and so on and so forth. And they seem to be against any further involvement in the Middle East. And they're completely disconnected from the reality [00:48:00] that is demonstrated by polling. Every poll I've seen says that, you know, upwards of 60% in some polls, at 75% plus that the United States needs to do whatever it takes to eliminate Iran's nuclear weapons program. And so we have these people with outside influence but minimal understanding. I think they have the President's ear and that's a that's a very unfortunate thing.
Click here for the uncorrected transcript of the webinar - Iran and the CCP: Why They Both Must Lose, with Frank Gaffney, Brian Kennedy, Gordon Chang, Dr. David Wurmser, Rabbi Pesach Wolicki, George Rasley, Capt. James Fanell and Dr. Karen Siegemund.
- Trump assassination attempt
- Golden Dome
- Iran
- Trump foreign policy
- Middle East policy
- Negotiations with Iran
- Assassination squads
- Trump Middle East trip
- Qatar
- Wall Street
- China trade
- Jamie Dimon
- Brian Moynihan
- CAPL
