As Natalie Winters reported this week, numerous very high-ranking retired U.S. military officers engaged with a Chinese Communist Party front organization, The China Association for International Friendly Contact. Winters reports that “The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission found that the group performed the dual roles of ‘intelligence collection’ and ‘conducting propaganda and perception management campaigns.'”

There is simply no question that the retired U.S. officers involved here should have suspected the CCP’s not-so-hidden hand and ulterior motives. Senior officers are heavily briefed on the CCP’s influence-peddling strategy and tactics. Perhaps some of these retired officers were foolish enough to believe that their engagement would serve both countries’ national interests. In the case of Adm. William “Bill” Owens, former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, however, the evidence suggests collusion with a foreign adversary against U.S. interests.