Americans living and working in China must leave the communist country now. If not, they will be complicit in the continued growth of the most brutal regime the world has seen since the death of Mao Zedong.

Scholar estimate Mao’s “modernization” plan killed 45 million to 80 million Chinese, some by torture, some by starvation, some by summary execution.

By comparison, Germany’s Hitler killed about 12 million in the Holocaust, and Russia’s Stalin killed about 20 million in his own modernization schemes.

With the election of its current president Xi, China embarked on new “modernization” plan.

It’s an aggressive plan to isolate and control Chinese citizens in feudal subjugation, expand Chinese territorial ambitions by violating the rights of Hong Kong, annexing Taiwan, and gaining the cooperation of Pacific countries by bribery, bullying, extortion and threat.

And force.

Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos—in fact all of Asia-- are at risk of war with Beijing at any time.

When Asia is at risk of war, America is at risk of war too.

The Congressional-Executive Commission on China estimates that there are about 1,600 political or religious prisoners that they know about in currently in China. That number doesn’t include the estimated 3 million ethic Uyghurs in concentration camps in China.

It doesn’t include the victims of human trafficking and ordinary human rights abuses.

There is no freedom of expression in China, no freedom to live and work where you want, no access to the legal system, no ability to follow your conscience. Worker, women and minority rights are regularly violated.

Chinese authorities have been increasingly willing to detain and harass Westerners--including Americans-- as opposition to China’s modernization schemes increase in the West.

Americans living and working in China run considerable risk to their freedom and their lives by staying in China.

Beijing has detained Americans, Canadians, Japanese in commercial disputes within the last two years.

What happens to Westerners when Hong Kong explodes? How will this amoral regime use Westerners then?

Today, Beijing is using money supplied by American consumers-- and technical means supplied by an American workforce and materials-- to institute a surveillance state that has an iron grip on society.

The goal of Beijing is to be able create “non-people” of those who present any amount of criticism of the government. “Non-people” can’t get jobs, can’t move to a new city, can’t use a bank account.

The last is especially effective, since cash transactions are virtually non-existent in China.

Facial recognition systems are gaining in ubiquity in China. Video cameras are used by the government to track citizens at traffic lights, in airports, taxi cabs, and in the work place. Beijing is instituting facial recognition systems as required log-ons for internet applications, thereby ensuring all Chinese citizens and any visiting foreigners will get catalogued by the government.

Already, most Chinese simply assume the government uses their cellphone and computer cameras and microphones to spy on them. But know they will know sure.

This expansion of power will not end well for them or for America. When you see a prison being built brick-by-brick, one must assume some day it will be full of people.

Never in history has a government enjoyed such total supremacy over their subjects. Why would any government design and execute a system of such total control? Even if the Chinese government had only the best intentions, if would be irresponsible to vest such power in it.

But under Xi, China doesn’t have good intentions: They are the world’s leading human rights abuser, the world’s leading polluter, human trafficker, concentration camp warden, religious suppressor and ethic cleanser.

And people living and working in China by choice are their most valuable aiders and abettors.

The choice for Americans is simple and virtuous: Leave China now.

John Ransom is politics and economics writer/editor with offices in Washington DC, Singapore. You can find him on Facebook @ here and here.