Christian Whiton was a senior counselor for strategic communications at the Trump State Department and a member of the transition team for the Trump presidency.
Less than a week before Communist China launched a surveillance balloon over the United States, a four-star Air Force general warned his officers that in two years, the United States may be at war with Beijing.
“I hope I’m wrong,” General Mike Minihan wrote in a memo dated February 1. “My instincts tell me that we will fight in 2025,”
A Chinese attack on Taiwan, according to Minihan, would compel American assistance. And he desired for his airmen to be prepared when the bullets begin flying.
CIA Director William Burns revealed on February 3 that Chinese President Xi Jinping has instructed the People’s Liberation Army to be prepared for a successful invasion of Taiwan by 2027.
It is unclear whether this signifies a clear Chinese intent to attack. However, this is hardly the conduct of a calm neighbor.
And last week, days before Biden’s second State of the Union speech, the surveillance balloon marked another turning moment – when millions of Americans were horrifiedly aware of China’s malicious objectives.
In the past, U.S. authorities were reluctant to acknowledge that a new Cold War exists. The Chinese government loves to accuse American hawks of having a “Cold War mentality.”
It is a widely held belief on Capitol Hill, however, that Washington, D.C., and Beijing are on the verge of escalating their conflict due to creeping domestic surveillance and threatening behavior abroad.
If Biden wishes for his State of the Union address to have any significance, he should begin by outlining a strategy to counter China, beginning by reducing America’s incredible vulnerabilities by ending our suicidal reliance on this dangerous regime.
In 2018, Chinese imports peaked at $539 billion, with Americans purchasing $418 billion more from China than from the United States.
In 2018, the trade deficit was reduced due to the Trump administration’s imposition of tariffs. In 2020, the trade deficit fell from $418 billion to $308 billion. In 2022, however, the deficit increased to $359 billion due to the epidemic.
For decades, the United States has relied on Chinese manufacturers for manufactured items, many of which are essential to human survival.
According to Republican Senator Tom Cotton, a scary proportion of the United States’ active medicinal components are produced in China. This includes 95% of ibuprofen imports, 70% of acetaminophen imports, and up to 45% of imported penicillin.
What would occur if China simply cut off this supply? They might.
In Congress, a bill to correct this evident flaw in a crucial U.S. supply chain is inactive. Just last year, the “Protecting our Pharmaceutical Supply Chain from China Act” was enacted. Since March, no official action has been taken.
The United States and the rest of the free world have also stood by as China has dominated the mining and processing of “rare earth” minerals, which are critical for the production of advanced commercial and military technologies.
Today, China is responsible for more than 60 percent of the world’s rare earth mining and more than 90 percent of rare earth magnet manufacture — a crucial component of missiles and radars.
In the event of a protracted confrontation, the United States could find itself fighting with one arm tied behind its back due to component shortages.
Taiwan, the target of China’s short-term expansion strategy, is the world’s largest producer of microchips. A Chinese invasion would endanger the United States’ supply of semiconductors, which are used to power everything from automobiles to refrigerators.
How can the United States continue to rely on China for these products three years after the COVID outbreak began and supply networks proved to be so fragile?
There is no suitable response to this question.
Surprisingly, the United States lacks the capacity to transport commodities around the globe.
According to Brent Sadler of the Heritage Foundation, a Congressional committee found in the 1980s that the United States required 650 cargo ships to transport the materials necessary to meet its military and domestic demands.
Even though the economy and population of the United States have risen dramatically in recent years, the country possesses only 180 war-capable vessels.
Beijing is aware of this fact and would not hesitate to use it to its advantage.
So, what can Vice President Biden say during his State of the Union address?
First, he should commit to decoupling the American economy from the Chinese economy. Trump initiated a trade battle that has been mainly continued by Vice President Biden, but this is insufficient.
He should commit to increase tariffs even further, so compelling our supply chain to relocate overseas. Some manufacturing would return to the United States, particularly if Biden could convince Congress to enact tariffs as a signal of a long-term policy.
Biden should engage in verbal political warfare against the unpopular Chinese regime. He might begin by drawing attention to the oppression of political prisoners, such as media mogul Jimmy Lai, who was arrested in a brutal crackdown against Hong Kong’s pro-democracy campaigners and now faces life in jail.
Taiwan should be viewed as an asset, not a burden, by Vice President Biden. The economically thriving island nation proves that an ethnically Chinese society can flourish under democracy. It is a scathing criticism to the oppressive one-party state in Beijing.
Biden should advocate in the United States for an end to Chinese regime funding of American colleges and a ban on Chinese students in technical fields. Beijing has displaced Asian Americans from elite American schools in favor of Chinese nationals who pay full tuition to obtain talents for use in China.
Lastly, representatives of would-be global partners, ranging from capitalist Singapore to communist Vietnam, should be present for the address. What could be more evocative than a picture of a united Congress and Executive branch collaborating with our Eastern allies?
No one desires Chinese dominance. Nonetheless, the region need clear presidential support, which is badly lacking.
Japan is considering roughly tripling its defense budget, but a larger allied force would be advantageous. In lieu of this, the administration recently removed some old F-15 fighter jets from a U.S. base in Okinawa and replaced them with… nothing.
President Biden repeats endlessly an anecdote from one of his several conversations with Xi. Whether or whether it occurred is irrelevant.
Biden claimed that Xi informed him, “Democracies cannot survive in the 21st century; autocracies will rule the world.”
Why?
Due to Joe’s assertion that ‘things are changing so swiftly’ Consensus is necessary for democracies, but it takes time, and you don’t have the time.
Well, Mr. President: Will America disprove Xi?
Can America confront the challenge of a rising Chinese Communist power with a coherent plan that begins with an honest evaluation of America’s weaknesses?
»As Joe addresses the nation, CHRISTIAN WHITON asks, how do we win the new “Cold War” with China?«