Well, the Washington Post

mr. bump brings home dinner

Shot:

WaPo's Philip Bump steps in to defend … the Chinese Communist Party (no, really)

Criticizing China’s communism is by no means new in American politics, of course. But this phrasing, the “CCP” iteration of that criticism, seems to be in vogue at the moment. How did that happen?

After wandering around for a bit, Bump finally gets into the reason he's really upset: Talking about the CCP is a dogwhistle, they're REALLY insulting the American Left.

There was another utility to it in both 2020 and after, of course: it once again pits America against communism. Republicans (and particularly Trump) have repeatedly characterized the American left as communistic — meaning, in this reinvigorated context, that they are anti-American.

Chaser:

Just The News is reporting that even our own State Department says China continues to be a very very naughty boy:

“China’s government is investing in “unprecedented resources” in disinformation, surveillance and censorship tactics to influence the worldview of the country, according to a State Department report[…]The communist-run country faces international criticism for such issues as its record on human rights, unfair international trade practices, spying on other countries and not condemning Russia’s war on Ukraine.”