Or remember what happened in Hong Kong in 2019, when anti-government protests in Hong Kong over an unpopular extradition law escalated after a university student fell to his death from a parking garage. The Hong Kong protests were ultimately quieted through the guise of the COVID-19 pandemic, which allowed the government to implement drastic restrictions.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has learned its lesson since Tiananmen and expanded the People’s Armed Police (PAP) to handle these situations using the same tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP) as the PLA, only wearing different uniforms.

We saw at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak the methods the CCP used to control the spread of the virus by chaining or sometimes welding the doors shut to keep people in their homes. Instead of condemnation, the media praised China for its alleged ability to solve the problem.

In the western world too, governments leveraged the fear of the people to gain unprecedented control. Businesses, restaurants, and churches were forced to close their doors, while physicians who spent a lifetime treating patients were sidelined by bureaucrats who had M.D. following their names but had not seen a single patient for decades.

Meanwhile, America sat back while thugs assaulted customers in stores who didn’t wear a mask. And at a time when U.S. military recruitment is at an all-time low, we are kicking out soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, and coast guardsmen who have put their lives on the line to defend our freedom. Simply because they refused an experimental vaccine that was supposed to stop the infection.

The current protests in China against draconian rules to “control” the spread of COVID should be a wake-up call for the world. We should not be surprised when the CCP decides to take drastic actions to quell this uprising, because this is what Communists do. They will use any means necessary to control the public and maintain power.

What’s more disturbing is how Apple kowtowed to the CCP by limiting the AirDrop feature for Chinese subscribers. When will we see that Communism, known by its other names Marxism and Socialism, is not just a fad, but an evil ideology which threatens our way of life?

When will we stand bravely like Weilin the Tank Man and say “Enough!’? Even in the United States, we saw the unilateral decisions made by some Governors and how half of the country willingly accepted blatant restrictions on personal freedom. For our republic to survive, we must continue to challenge any attempts to limit our rights—no matter what the excuse.

I was a career Naval officer. Like my brothers and sisters who served beside me, we all remember what John Paul Jones, the father of the United States Navy, answered when the British demanded his surrender: “I have not yet begun to fight.” Let’s hope this is all America’s cry when our most precious freedoms are threatened.