In recent years, in its competition with the United States for global dominance, the CCP has frequently backed dictators, terrorist leaders, or authoritarian-leaning rulers whom the United States firmly opposes, hoping they would resist the US in various regions of the world, divert American attention, and support the CCP's global strategy.

But the results have often defied the CCP's expectations, as its "old friends" have fallen one after another. Here we give just four examples.

First, the CCP's "Old Friend" Assad Has Fallen

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ruled for 24 years and was regarded in the West as a "butcher." He killed large numbers of people while suppressing popular protests, and became unprecedentedly isolated internationally.

Yet the CCP called Assad a "like-minded good friend, good brother, and good partner."

In September 2023, when the CCP hosted the Asian Games in Hangzhou, remarkably few foreign heads of state and prime ministers showed up to lend their support.

To save face, the CCP spared no expense, chartering an Air China plane to bring Syrian President Assad and his family of five to Hangzhou, and later chartering another flight to send the family of five back to Syria.

On September 22, the CCP specially arranged for the Assad family to visit the thousand-year-old Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou. In a rare gesture, the temple opened its main gate and rolled out a long red carpet to receive the Assad family in high style.

Xi Jinping met with Assad at the Xihu State Guesthouse in Hangzhou and announced the establishment of a "China-Syria Strategic Partnership," calling it an "important milestone" in the history of bilateral relations. China and Syria also signed multiple bilateral cooperation documents on jointly building the Belt and Road, economic development exchange, and economic and technical cooperation.

But just a little over a year and two months later, on December 8, 2024, Syrian opposition forces stormed the capital Damascus and overthrew the Assad regime.

The CCP's "old friend" Assad fled in panic to Russia.

Second, All the Hamas Leaders the CCP Supported Have Been Eliminated

Hamas is designated a "terrorist organization" by the United States and many other Western countries, but the CCP regards Hamas as a legitimate Palestinian organization.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a terrorist attack on Israeli civilians.

According to a 236-page report by Human Rights Watch titled "Bloody Memories That Cannot Be Erased: Hamas's October 7 Assault on Israel," the attack was aimed at "killing Israeli civilians and taking as many hostages as possible," resulting in at least 1,195 deaths, including 815 civilians; 251 people were taken hostage; and a large number of people were wounded. The victims were not only Israelis but also nationals of many other countries, including Chinese citizens.

Human Rights Watch said Hamas "committed numerous violations of the laws of war amounting to war crimes, including: deliberately attacking civilians and civilian objects; deliberately killing detainees; cruel and other inhumane treatment; crimes involving sexual and gender-based violence; hostage-taking; mutilating and looting corpses; using human shields; and pillage."

After Israel launched a counteroffensive against Hamas in response to the terrorist attack, the CCP for a long time refused to condemn Hamas's atrocities, and continued to back Hamas.

But, to the CCP's surprise, Hamas proved almost powerless to strike back against Israel's forceful counteroffensive.

By November 1, 2024, with the elimination of Hamas Political Bureau member Sabaneh — who was responsible for coordinating Hamas's strategic and military relations with other organizations in the Gaza Strip — all 54 Hamas leaders named on Israel's "deck of death cards" in the Israel-Hamas war had been eliminated.

These included: Hamas Political Bureau chief Haniyeh; his successor Sinwar; Hamas Deputy Political Bureau chief al-Arouri; the top commander of Hamas's Qassam Brigades military wing; and Deif, the commander behind the October 7 terrorist attack, among others.

Third, the CCP's "Old Friend" Hasina Has Fallen

Sheikh Hasina served as Prime Minister of Bangladesh five separate times starting in 1996, for a combined total of 20 years, and had long been an "old friend" of the CCP.

On July 10, 2024, Xi Jinping met with Hasina in Beijing and announced the upgrading of China-Bangladesh relations to a "Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership."

During this visit, Hasina signed 28 bilateral agreements with the CCP, mainly covering trade and investment. The CCP issued a joint statement saying the two countries would advance existing large-scale Belt and Road infrastructure cooperation projects, and grant zero-tariff treatment to 98% of Bangladesh's export products.

Bangladesh was the first South Asian country to join the CCP's Belt and Road Initiative, in 2015, under a program known as the "Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor," formally established during Xi Jinping's visit to Bangladesh in 2016.

In 2016, China and Bangladesh signed loan agreements worth more than $24 billion, the largest foreign credit line Bangladesh had ever received.

In 2022, China became Bangladesh's largest source of foreign direct investment, with investment totaling nearly $1 billion, accounting for 65% of Bangladesh's total inbound investment. Within South Asia, Bangladesh ranks second only to Pakistan in the scale of Chinese investment it has received.

To date, cumulative Chinese investment in Bangladesh has reached $40 billion, with infrastructure construction — including roads, bridges, railways, power plants, and ports — making up the largest share.

But just 26 days after Hasina's visit to China, on August 5, 2024, the CCP's "old friend" Hasina fell from power.

That day, amid nationwide protests across Bangladesh, the 76-year-old Hasina fled in panic to India aboard a military helicopter.

Fourth, the CCP's "Old Friend" Khamenei Has Become a Frightened Bird

The CCP's most important "old friend" in the Middle East is Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Khamenei has served as Iran's Supreme Leader since 1989 — 36 years now — making him one of the few remaining dictators in today's world.

Iran is regarded by the United States and many of its allies as the most important source of terrorism in the Middle East. The most significant terrorist organizations in the region — including the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hamas, Lebanon's Hezbollah, Yemen's Houthi forces, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Shiite militias in Syria and Iraq — are all backed, above all, by Iran.

Iran, whether directly or through its proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Gaza, has orchestrated numerous terrorist attacks across the Middle East.

The CCP has turned a blind eye and deaf ear to all of Iran's terrorist activities.

In January 2016, Xi Jinping made his first visit to Iran, immediately establishing a "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership" with the country. According to commodities data firm Kpler, more than 90% of Iran's oil exports currently flow to China. Iran is a strategically vital location for the CCP's Belt and Road Initiative. In 2021, China and Iran signed a 25-year comprehensive cooperation agreement, under which the CCP plans to invest $400 billion in Iran.

China and Iran also cooperate extensively on military matters. For example, the core of Iran's Negah air-defense command system comes from the CCP's JY-10 air-defense command-and-control system. From the early 1980s until 1997, the CCP assisted Iran in developing its nuclear program, and helped Iran establish the Isfahan Nuclear Research Center. The two countries signed a nuclear cooperation agreement in 1990, and in 1991 the CCP shipped one metric ton of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) to Iran. Military experts note that behind Iran's nuclear progress lies years of technology and expertise supplied by the CCP.

A confidential report released by the International Atomic Energy Agency noted that, as of August 17, 2024, Iran had increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% by 49.8 pounds, bringing its total to 363.1 pounds — just below the minimum amount of highly enriched uranium needed to produce four nuclear weapons. Experts say converting uranium enriched to 60% into weapons-grade uranium enriched to 90% would take less than two weeks.

Iran's support for anti-Israel terrorist organizations across the Middle East, its past vows to wipe Israel off the map, and the possibility that it could soon produce nuclear weapons — taken together, these factors have led Israel to perceive Iran as posing a real and direct threat to its national security.

Israel is a small country; it would take only a single atomic bomb to destroy it.

In light of this, Israel launched a preemptive strike against Iran on June 13. Since then, Israel has destroyed Iran's air-defense systems, gained air superiority over Iranian airspace, and carried out intense airstrikes on Iran's nuclear facilities, military intelligence headquarters, ballistic missile bases, and major oil storage depots.

Most of the core members of Supreme Leader Khamenei's inner circle have been eliminated by Israel, including IRGC Commander-in-Chief Major General Salami, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Bagheri, Defense Minister Brigadier General Nasirzadeh, senior advisor to the Supreme Leader Major General Shamkhani, Central Command commander Major General Rashid, Iran's newly appointed wartime chief of staff Major General Shadmani, and police chief Radan, among others. In addition, at least 10 Iranian nuclear scientists have been eliminated.

The location where Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei is hiding has reportedly been identified, and he could become a target for elimination at any time.

Based on the current state of the conflict, Khamenei's 36-year dictatorial rule over Iran may well collapse. The political life of this "old friend" of the CCP is now on a countdown.

Conclusion

Why have these "old friends" the CCP so strongly backed fallen one after another? The key reason is that the CCP's judgment of international and domestic circumstances is based not on objective fact, but on ideology.

What is the CCP's ideology? It is Marxism. And what is the core tenet of Marxism? To hate, defeat, and replace capitalism, and liberate all of humanity.

Today's CCP faithfully carries on Marx's ideology of hating, defeating, and replacing capitalism — it has simply swapped out "liberating all of humanity" for "building a community with a shared future for mankind."

Who is the most powerful capitalist nation in today's world? The United States.

The CCP's drive to hate, defeat, and replace the United States, and to build a "community with a shared future for mankind" under CCP leadership, inevitably leads it to join forces with anti-American elements all over the world, standing in opposition to the United States.

There is a Chinese idiom: "a single leaf held before the eyes blocks the view of Mount Tai."

Countless historical facts to date fully demonstrate that Marxist ideology runs directly counter to the traditional and universal values that humanity has held in common for millennia — it is a fallacious and pernicious doctrine.

Guided by such a fallacious doctrine, the CCP effectively lives within the illusions, false appearances, and phantasms this doctrine has produced. Wearing such tinted glasses, it is simply incapable, under any circumstances, of clearly seeing the tragic fates that ultimately await such dictators and terrorist leaders.