newYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
You need two to tango, but only one to start a war. And, thanks to Xi Jinping’s decade-long rule, the United States is now embroiled in a new Cold War with the People’s Republic of China. The People’s Republic of China is a more capable and dangerous opponent than the Soviet Union at the height of its power.
In this conflict, the United States lacks two key advantages it had in the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Then we formed a powerful national coalition that promised to contain Moscow. Today no such coalition exists. The West is divided over its relationship with China in general and its approach to eliminating the growing economic and military threat posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Moreover, the United States and its allies effectively severed economic ties with the Soviet Union. This economic war, combined with American diplomacy and hard power deterrence, ultimately led to her 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at the Belt and Road Forum held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on April 26, 2019. (Nicholas Asfori/AFP via Getty Images)
But when it came to dealing with a rising communist power, China, the West took a very different course. Based on the theory that the more Beijing is involved in international commerce and international organizations, the easier it will be to open up this developing country more economically and, ultimately, on the path to more political freedom. and pursued an engagement strategy.
China and the United States are in a cold war. I have to win.this is how we do it
The operation was a resounding success. for Beijing.
China used access to American money and technology to promote both economic growth and a massive military buildup. Under Xi Jinping, the communist regime has become more repressive at home and more belligerent abroad.
Decades of systematic and unprecedented corporate espionage by China have cost the U.S. economy trillions of dollars in intellectual property theft. Moreover, the “involvement” has made us dangerously dependent on Chinese products. Critical supply chains, from critical rare earth elements to key pharmaceuticals, rely heavily or wholly on companies loyal to the Chinese Communist Party. (China’s national security law effectively targets all Chinese companies for information requests and other party directives.)
Chinese hackers have compromised the personal data of tens of millions of Americans. Popular Chinese social media apps transmit millions more, while Beijing continues to “donate” surveillance drones to local US fire and police departments.
China has plans to lead the world. what is ours?
China’s influence doesn’t stop there. China has established a presence on U.S. college campuses and operates covert police departments in many U.S. cities. Chinese “Friendship Society” and United Front Work Department operatives are pitching their influence in Washington and Wall Street, alongside CCP-funded lobbyists and consulting firms. Meanwhile, fentanyl and other synthetic opioids sourced from China were responsible for more than 70,000 deaths in the United States last year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping toast at Facet’s Palace in Moscow on March 21. (Pavel Byrkin/Sputnik/Kremlin pool photo/AP)
On the international stage, China is clearly determined to replace US leadership and coerce its Indo-Pacific neighbors into submission. It conducts mock blockades of Taiwan, clashes with Indian forces in the Himalayas, and dispatches fighter jets to survey Japanese airspace. It launched an economic coercion campaign against South Korea and Australia, backed Russia’s deadly invasion of Ukraine, and kept the rogue North Korean regime alive.
China claims the entire South China Sea and occupies some of the world’s most important shipping routes. It has militarized new artificial islands and deployed maritime militias to bully its neighbors. It is an ongoing series of dangerous encounters harassing U.S. military aircraft and Navy ships operating lawfully on the high seas. , monitored sensitive military installations as they crossed the continental United States.
These are not imaginary sophistry. This is the behavior of an adversary, not a competitor. So far, however, Washington’s response has fallen short. Looking forward to course correction.
A US pilot overlooks a suspected Chinese spy balloon on February 3, 2023. (U.S. Air Force)
Click here to get the opinion newsletter
To facilitate this serious policy dialogue, the Heritage Foundation has brought together more than 20 foreign policy, legal, military, economic and energy experts to develop a comprehensive plan to counter China.
The plans range from “reshoring, nearshoring and friendshoring” sensitive manufacturing out of China to encouraging state and local government pension funds to exit troubled Chinese companies. suggest economic strategy. It also calls for more aggressive implementation and enforcement of export controls. Especially about the technology that could make the Chinese military even more formidable.
To strengthen deterrence, the plan calls for a significant increase in the U.S. military presence in the Indo-Pacific region and a doubling of foreign aid spending. To achieve this, Washington needs to continue to emphasize the importance of burden-sharing among its European allies in order to keep Russia at bay.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The plan also recommends many other kinds of initiatives, from lobbying for reforms to removing influential activities of the CCP from university campuses.
We are in a new Cold War with China. And winning that war will require the efforts of the entire government and society to protect the people and the economy from the CCP’s malicious actions. This is the greatest threat America has to defeat in her 21st century. Attacking is a thing of the past.
Click here to read more about Kevin Roberts
