“This is a surveillance tool, and it’s disguised as a payment mechanism,” Erik Bethel said of the Chinese regime’s new digital currency. In this episode of “American Thought Leaders,” host Jan Jekielek and Bethel, a global finance analyst, discuss the situation in China, and the threat of the digital yuan to the U.S. economy and to the free world. Jan Jekielek: Erik, you’re no stranger to China. You lived there doing finance work. Erik Bethel: After I joined a private equity fund in China, my wife and I spent seven years living in Shanghai. My three kids were born there. We learned a great deal about Chinese culture, and I grew very fond of the Chinese people. I’m not as fond of the Chinese Communist Party. Mr. Jekielek: Let’s talk about this Chinese digital yuan. Mr. Bethel: Let’s first define digital currency. A central bank digital currency, which is what we’re …