The Devil and Communist China indicts the murderous rule of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) with Mao Zedong at its center, reaching back to Karl Marx himself to demonstrate the demonic origin of Communism. Its author, Steven Mosher, is the whistleblower who exposed China’s brutal One Child Policy 40 years ago. 

After open flirtations with literal Satanism, Marx developed the theoretical framework for Communism. (Marxism is the theory, and Communism the practice.) This new book covers Mao’s life and ends with current Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent ascension to office. With ample horrific accounts, it convincingly proves that the CCP is not just a party of an earthly system, but a demonic killing machine.

I immediately saw this book’s value for today’s America. Ours is a “demonless” society. We largely don’t believe they exist. Many believe spiritual beings like demons have no room in our humanist society. We should waste no time on such things, they say, but give our attention to building a better future through collaboration and unconditional tolerance.  

Sadly, most American churches follow the same line of reasoning. Pastors rarely talk about demons. When they do, it’s usually because some sections of the Scripture mention them. Jesus encountered demons and cast them out, which demonstrated His power over darkness — but that’s usually where the sermon ends. We see no connection between the demons in the Scripture and our circumstances. No wonder when trying to explain to my American friends about the demonic essence of Marxism and Communism, I often feel like I’m hitting a brick wall.  

How America Helped Mao Impose His Dictatorship

Our country’s past dealings with the CCP also shows that we’ve had only a superficial knowledge of Communism, and missed its demonic nature. In the late 1940s, fooled by CCP lies and cunning, President Harry Truman and Secretary of State George S. Marshall persistently backed the CCP.  At the most crucial moment, the American government stopped providing military supplies to General Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist Army, thus saving the CCP from imminent destruction. Now, after decades of being fattened up by us, the CCP makes no attempt to hide its intentions or true nature.

The Devil and Communist China will help you develop a fresh understanding of Communism and the CCP, and realize that its adherents represent an invisible dark force whose insatiable desire is to steal, to kill, and to destroy. In light of the CCP’s aggression around the world, this book will force us to redirect our line of resistance.

Don’t Blame Chinese Culture

However, the book has its flaws, mainly in Part One where Mosher suggests the CCP’s rule is merely the continuation of Chinese Legalism, practiced over the past two millennia. It leaves the impression that Chinese culture inherently promotes obedience and tolerates oppression, and this in part is the reason for the emergence and persistence of Communist rule in China.

This creates the perception that there is nothing positive in Chinese history. This sounds familiar; a teacher told my class during the Cultural Revolution that Chinese history was pitch black, and Chinese culture and civilization were evil, oppressive, and superstitious. I was told there had been nothing redemptive in China until the advent of the CCP, and Mao emerged to save the Chinese people from their abyss of suffering.

Community, Not Communism

Later, after immigrating to the U.S., I learned the truth about Chinese history by reading books published outside mainland China. I found that, except for the brief rule of the Qin Dynasty (221 – 206 BC) when Legalism was exclusively practiced, the CCP was the most oppressive regime in Chinese history. Ironically, historians say Legalism is the very reason the Qin Dynasty was short-lived.

Though Mosher cogently articulates the characteristics of Legalism and rightly recognizes the connection between that political system and Mao’s rule, it’s quite the leap to say that Legalism has been the dominant political idea in China over the last two millennia. Throughout history, China’s sociopolitical structure has been a mixture of different schools of thought. Though Legalism was part of it, it was significantly mitigated by opposing ideas such as Confucianism and Taoism. Mosher repeats the progressive view that American history is entirely defined by the antebellum period. 

Further, in the Chinese culture, a person does not exist in isolation but always in different reciprocal relationships. In each, both people have obligations. In order for a relationship to continue, both parties have to fulfill their duties and responsibilities. For instance, while the citizens are required to obey the emperor, the emperor is bound to rule justly and mercifully.

Regrettably, Western intellectuals often overlook or misunderstand this reciprocity. They tend to focus on one party – usually the lesser one, the subjects, the wife, the children. Consequently, to them, Chinese culture appears oppressive and the Chinese people seem submissive.

A Deadly Western Virus Ravaged China

In Confucianism, subjects must obey the ruler as long as he rules justly. If an emperor turns out to be wicked, which indicates that he has lost his “mandate from Heaven,” his subjects are not to obey him.  History shows that, at times, emperors publicly apologized to their subjects and promised less exhaustive labor, taxation, and military policies. Confucius’s statement, “Water doesn’t just support a ship, it can also capsize the ship,” remains a sobering warning to authorities. 

In addition, when the CCP attained power in 1949, Communism was a Western idea to most Chinese. Many, including my grandfather — who had been one of Chiang Kai-shek’s lieutenant generals — decided to stay in China to give Communism a try instead of following Chiang to Taiwan. Many Chinese trained in universities in the west also returned to help create a new China. No one thought Communism was the continuation of the old Chinese system, let alone the worst part of it.

Though I see great value in Mosher’s book, it’s unfortunate that, in blaming Chinese culture itself as part of the reason for Communism’s emergence and longevity in China, it suggest Communism is unique to China. The truth is that the supernatural darkness of Marxism and Communism can penetrate any society if we do not recognize and resist those ideologies with a vigor that matches their viciousness. 

The green tents now popping up on college campuses like mushrooms after a rain demonstrate that the freest nation on Earth has not been able to keep Marxism at bay. The crisis Marxists inside our country have created is just as urgent as the threat coming from the other side of the Pacific. We must also keep an eye on our domestic Marxists and their activities, recognizing in them the demonic underpinnings detailed in Mosher’s book.

Ultimately, the burden of holding the line against Marxism and Communism falls on Christians. After all, it’s a spiritual matter, not merely an intellectual or political one. Only we can overcome this demonic ideology by the power of the Holy Spirit.

In this regard, The Devil and Communist China provides an important contribution.  

Chenyuan Snider was raised in Communist China and majored in Chinese language and literature in college. After immigrating to the U.S. and studying at Assemblies of God Theological Seminary and Duke Divinity School, she became a professor at Christian colleges and seminary. Recently, she sensed God was leading her to use her unique voice to warn Americans about the various Marxist influences in our society. She lives in northern California with her husband and has two grown children.