59 pages • 1 hour read
Peter SchweizerBlood Money: Why the Powerful Turn a Blind Eye While China Kills Americans
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2011A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Covert Manipulation and Disinformation Campaigns
Blood Money introduces the theme of covert manipulation and disinformation campaigns as a primary tactic employed by China in its “unrestricted warfare” against the US. Peter Schweizer presents China as leveraging non-traditional methods—cyberattacks, propaganda, drug trafficking, and social media platforms like TikTok—to undermine America’s societal, economic, and political systems. However, an examination of these claims reveals that Schweizer builds his argument on exaggerated rhetoric, speculative connections, and selective use of evidence, contributing to a disinformation campaign that promotes fear and mistrust in American institutions.
Schweizer’s core narrative rests on the concept of “unrestricted warfare,” which he draws from ancient Chinese strategist Sun Tzu’s philosophy of defeating the enemy without traditional military confrontation:
This ancient concept remains central to modern China’s approach to war. Sun Tzu’s words guide the minds of today’s Chinese leaders. Since 2006, every officer, soldier, and sailor has been required to study Sun Tzu’s book The Art of War as a textbook. In keeping with this approach, China’s official military strategy focuses on—in the Chinese leaders’ words—going after the United States’ ‘soft underbelly’ in terms of politics, economics, and the spirit and psychology of [its] people (xii).
In substantiating his claims, Schweizer cites one source from the Pakistani Air University and another source from Japan—namely the former director of Japan’s Defense Intelligence agency, Vice Admiral Fumio Ota. The use of these sources undermines the credibility of Schweizer’s argument by relying on external perspectives rather than offering direct evidence of current Chinese military doctrine. Schweizer’s reliance on Sun Tzu’s The Art of War to explain China’s modern military tactics perpetuates a reductive and orientalist portrayal of China as a mysterious, exotic power steeped in ancient wisdom. By attributing China’s geopolitical actions to ancient strategies, Schweizer indulges in reductive thinking and oversimplifies the complex nature of contemporary Chinese military and political behavior. This approach reinforces outdated stereotypes and obscures the realities of modern Chinese policy-making.
A major argument within Schweizer’s covert manipulation narrative is the alleged role of China in fueling the fentanyl crisis in the US. Schweizer draws historical parallels to the Opium Wars, suggesting that China is retaliating for historical grievances by weaponizing fentanyl, a synthetic opioid largely produced with Chinese precursor chemicals, to create social chaos in America. While it is true that fentanyl production often involves Chinese-manufactured chemicals, Schweizer stretches this fact into a grander conspiracy, framing it as a deliberate strategy by the CCP to weaken the US. His argument is undermined by a lack of solid evidence connecting China’s actions to a coordinated effort of warfare. Instead, Schweizer employs emotional language, likening fentanyl to a “weapon of mass destruction” (4), which contributes to the fear-driven narrative that pervades his book.
The theme of covert manipulation resonates with classic conspiracy theory tropes, where a powerful entity (in this case, China) is accused of orchestrating events behind the scenes, often through indirect or hidden means. However, in accusing China of covert manipulation, Schweizer launches his own disinformation campaign. By weaving legitimate concerns with exaggerated or false claims, Schweizer’s narrative gains credibility while simultaneously spreading doubt and confusion. The strategy of covert manipulation that Schweizer attributes to China mirrors his own method of mixing half-truths with more extreme ideas, creating a narrative that appears plausible while obscuring the line between evidence and conjecture. The result is an inaccurate portrayal of US-China relations that inflames tensions rather than contributing to an informed and nuanced understanding of the challenges in international relations.
The Interconnection of Organized Crime and State Interests
Schweizer’s thematic engagement with the interconnection of organized crime and state interests raises significant concerns about the credibility and depth of his narrative, especially given his history of promoting right-wing disinformation. Schweizer reveals a tendency to conflate fact with speculation throughout his book, transforming complex geopolitical dynamics into simple narratives that serve to evoke fear and distrust.
First, while China is a significant source of fentanyl precursors, the notion that this is part of an orchestrated plan by the CCP to destroy American society through addiction to narcotics is speculation. Schweizer’s reliance on historical analogies, such as the Opium Wars or the use of heroin during the Vietnam War, oversimplifies the present-day complexities of global drug trafficking. It also neglects the complex nature of the opioid crisis, which involves not just international actors, but also domestic pharmaceutical companies, healthcare providers, and US regulatory failures.
Schweizer’s claim that Chinese organized crime has global reach and plays a role in drug trafficking is not without merit. There is substantial evidence to suggest that triads have been involved in a variety of illicit activities, including drug smuggling. Schweizer builds upon this foundation by alleging that Chinese authorities are complicit in the trafficking of synthetic opioids, allowing these criminal organizations to operate with impunity. While this argument is plausible in theory, Schweizer fails to provide sufficient evidence to prove that the Chinese state is directly involved in, or benefits from, these criminal activities. His reliance on anecdotal evidence and the broad generalization about the connection between Chinese organized crime and the Chinese state does little to substantiate his claims (26).
Schweizer also ties his narrative of organized crime and state interests to the broader theme of political corruption in the US. He repeatedly claims that American political leaders, including Joe Biden, Mitch McConnell, and others, are financially compromised by their connections to Chinese businesses or criminal networks, rendering them ineffective in confronting the alleged threat posed by China. This framing suggests that US leaders are either unwilling or unable to protect national interests because they are beholden to foreign actors—an ad hominem rhetorical strategy that functions as character assassination.
Schweizer’s focus on figures like Hunter Biden plays into right-wing conspiracies that have circulated without substantive proof, undermining his argument. While corruption and conflicts of interest in politics are broadly recognized, Schweizer’s claims about specific individuals’ financial entanglements with China often rest on tenuous connections or unsubstantiated allegations. This tactic of character assassination serves a broader disinformation strategy, undermining trust in American institutions and political leadership by suggesting that foreign influence is pervasive and unchecked. This is a familiar pattern in Schweizer’s work, where he frequently mixes well-substantiated concerns about governance with speculative or unproven accusations to paint a picture of widespread corruption.
Schweizer’s use of organized crime as a tool to evoke fear also leads to an oversimplification of the global drug trade and international politics. His narrative creates a binary struggle between the US and China, casting China as a monolithic and malevolent force intent on destroying American society. This portrayal fits within a broader disinformation campaign that relies on fostering distrust of foreign powers, but it ignores the complexities of the global system in which both the US and China operate.
The Erosion of American Values Through Foreign Interference
The theme of the erosion of American values through foreign interference in Schweizer’s Blood Money reflects nationalist anxieties about global influence on domestic affairs. Schweizer shapes his narrative using selective evidence and exaggeration, which contribute to the broader disinformation campaigns associated with right-wing rhetoric.
Schweizer’s discussion of TikTok and its impact on American youth serves as a focal point in his argument about the erosion of American values. Schweizer claims that the app is a tool of mass manipulation designed to corrupt the minds of young Americans—a position that stretches credibility due to the lack of substantiated evidence presented. While research supports concerns about data collection and platform addiction, such concerns are not unique or isolated to TikTok, but rather issues that affect various social media platforms globally. By selectively focusing on TikTok and linking it to broader conspiracies about Chinese influence, Schweizer distracts from legitimate debates about social media regulation and the ethical responsibilities of tech companies.
A recurring motif in Schweizer’s narrative is the moral decay of American leadership, which he attributes to financial entanglements with China. He consistently argues that US politicians (mostly from the Democratic Party) are either compromised by their business ties to Chinese companies or are ideologically aligned with China’s political system. While corruption and conflicts of interest are real concerns in politics, Schweizer’s sweeping generalizations create an overly simplistic and alarmist narrative that positions American leaders as fundamentally corrupt or complicit in China’s rise. This narrative relies on populist sentiments that portray the political establishment as untrustworthy and self-serving, but it does so without offering a nuanced analysis of the complex economic and geopolitical relationships between the US and China.
Schweizer also employs a strategy of historical distortion to strengthen his narrative. He frequently draws parallels between contemporary events and historical conflicts, such as the Opium Wars, the Cold War, or the relations with Russia to suggest that China’s actions are part of a long-standing effort to weaken the US. However, the comparison of the relationship between the US and Russia with that of the US and China ignores the vastly different political and economic contexts of these relations. There are entire fields of research dedicated to the relations between the three most powerful geopolitical actors in contemporary world politics, none of which Schweizer engages or interrogates.
In Chapter 9, Schweizer turns his attention to Hollywood, arguing that Chinese financial investments in the film industry have led to the erosion of American cultural and creative independence. He claims that through co-productions and financial leverage, the CCP can exert control over the content produced by major Hollywood studios, ensuring that it aligns with China’s political goals. Schweizer includes examples like the alleged changes to Doctor Strange and The Martian to illustrate his belief that Hollywood, once a beacon of American values, has been compromised by Chinese influence. This narrative also uses current anxieties about globalization and the perceived decline of American cultural dominance. Schweizer frames Hollywood’s financial ties to China as a form of betrayal, where filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, once critical of Beijing’s human rights record, have allegedly sold out to Chinese interests.
Overall, the theme of the erosion of American values through foreign interference relies on the emotional appeal of lost national pride, suggesting that US politicians, creators, financial leaders, and so on, have sacrificed their integrity and the youth of the country for profit. Schweizer’s argumentation here is designed to provoke moral outrage, encouraging readers to view American politicians’ financial dealings with China as a sign of broader moral decay in American society. This rhetorical strategy is persuasive in its appeal to nationalist sentiments but fails to engage with the realities of a globalized world, where financial considerations, apps like TikTok, Facebook, and Twitter, and viruses often transcend national boundaries.
