Blood Money: Why the Powerful Turn a Blind Eye While China Kills Americans

In Chapter 4, Peter Schweizer discusses his claim that China is fueling violence in the US by exporting illegal devices that convert legal firearms into machine guns. He states that since 2018, thousands of auto sear switches, which modify Glock handguns to fire 20 rounds per second, have been shipped from China to the US, exacerbating gun violence. These devices, illegal in both the US and China, are allegedly sold on Chinese websites, such as Alibaba, and are mislabeled to evade detection. As a result, Schweizer claims, machine-gun incidents in US cities have surged dramatically.

Schweizer maintains that lately, due to US authorities’ effort to intercept these devices, Chinese companies have shifted their tactics, sending these devices through Mexico to bypass US mail inspections. In addition to auto sears, Schweizer claims that China is also smuggling firearm suppressors into the US, enabling felons and drug traffickers to access prohibited equipment. Schweizer argues that Beijing’s lack of cooperation in curbing these exports is due to its deliberate strategy to destabilize American society.

Schweizer provides some data to illustrate his allegations, such as the US interception of 10,800 illegal gun parts from China in 2020, the arrest of Hong Kong businessman Tommy Fok in 1992 for weapon smuggling, and the supposed involvement of China in gun deliveries for Canadian separatist groups.