The government and the media continuously discuss the need for a new approach with China or how the U.S. needs a new approach with China. But given China’s stated ambition to displace the U.S. as the global hegemon and rewrite the international rules-based order to best suit Beijing, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a good example. Xi Jinping claims it is about connecting the whole world with infrastructure and development. But actually, all roads lead back to China, which reaps the majority of the benefits.
There is nothing to discuss with China, and no negotiation or compromise is possible. Beijing wants to rule the world, not half of it, not a third— all. They want everything.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) says that the U.S. just doesn’t understand China, and we mistakenly believe that China is a threat just because Xi Jinping says he wants to displace the United States by 2049, militarily, economically, and diplomatically. Liberal think tanks publish slews of articles claiming that China is a “strategic competitor,” not an enemy. The media worries that US-China relations are worsening but cautions that they do not have to. But, it stands to reason that since Beijing seeks to displace the US, worsening relations are just par for the course.
Xi Jinping has pledged to retake Taiwan, stating that China has the right to use force. The PRC has territorial disputes with all of its neighbors, some of which are turning violent, such as military skirmishes with India in the Himalayas and repeated naval clashes with Vietnam and the Philippines in the South China Sea. China is encroaching on the Indian Ocean, where it already has a military base and a spy base. Its maritime militia is harassing and surveilling ships from other nations.
Past experience has proven that talking to China yields nothing. China ignores WTO rules, violates international norms, and is committing genocide against the Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang. Additionally, it disregards rulings of the international tribunal, invalidating its false sovereignty claims in the South China Sea, where it is now developing and militarizing islands it does not own. China also failed to make good on the 2020 US-China Phase One Trade Deal. Luckily, the new administration was not foolish enough to try and renegotiate that one.
China has a “no limits friendship” with Russia. If not for Beijing’s support, the Russian economy would have collapsed in 2022, and the Ukraine War would be over. Instead, the war is dragging on, and US taxpayers are playing against China’s money. China is the primary benefactor of North Korea, a country that ranks in the top five national security threats for the United States and top two for our ally, Japan. The Iranian regime is another maniacal actor supported by China. Iran, in turn, supports Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis.
If Xi Jinping wanted to, he could snap his fingers and order Iran to rein in the Houthis who are terrorizing global shipping in the Red Sea. Instead, US and Chinese officials plan meetings, discussions, negotiations, and nothing happens.
It is the same with fentanyl. The Department of Homeland Security recognized the drug crisis, stemming from Mexico due to open borders, as a top threat to national security. And the number one killer of Americans in terms of drugs is fentanyl. The precursor chemicals to manufacture fentanyl are sold by China to the Mexican cartels. And now, after many years into the fentanyl crisis, US officials are discussing this with China. About 275 Americans die per day. In the time it took you to read this report, one American died of a drug overdose. But rather than closing the border and instead of the White House demanding China stop the drugs immediately, they are just talking.
And whether it is regarding trade, IP theft, or fentanyl, with each round of failed talks, the media says, “Despite talks, relations are worsening.” This is guidance counselor syndrome. I can just hear a school counselor saying, “Has anyone tried talking to China? I mean, really talking. Opening up, and saying, ‘China, we love you, but it hurts us when you try to destroy our nation.’ And with that talk comes listening. Really listening. Has anyone tried listening to China?”
The answer is obvious. When we listen, we hear more reasons to perceive China as a threat. The White House keeps trying to hold on to the strategic competitor narrative and open dialogue, refusing to recognize China as a threat. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Defense, the people the White House appoints and taxpayers pay to defend the nation, released a document on how allies could work together to deter China. When you start forming international alliances against a particular country, that is an enemy, not a competitor.
The Annual Threat Assessment of the Intelligence Community identifies China as the number-one national security threat, as do the Department of Defense and the FBI in their assessments. Biden appointed these people, and he, along with everyone else, needs to listen to them and recognize that China is an enemy, not a competitor.
This story originally appeared on TheGateWayPundit
