It should be clear by now that China sees the U.S. as nothing more than a paper tiger. That is to say, one who claims or appears to be powerful and fierce but is actually ineffectual and unable to withstand challenge. It may be more accurate to say that the U.S. is a wounded tiger, still with teeth and claws, but listless and weak of spirit, snarling half-heartedly but seemingly tired of the hunt.
While the U.S. has spent the last 30 years indulging itself in self-destructive partisan battles, China has spent the last 30 years strategizing to become the preeminent world power and achieve global domination. The leadership of Xi Jinping has accelerated this effort. At the very least, China has stalemated the U.S. and has begun to threaten our interests and influence around the world. At worst, China has insidiously attacked the U.S. within our own borders and is using the free and open nature of our society against us.
And yet, despite the very real threat and challenge that China represents, we still keep fighting among ourselves as if we are the enemy. And, in a very real sense, we are – we are our own worst enemy.
We take our greatness for granted, and in the process have lost our edge. Instead of working together and supporting one another to become stronger as a country, we have let corporate and individual greed and imagined grievances subvert what once made us a great nation. We see the world through glasses tinted red, white and blue, and thus are unable to see clearly, with an objective and honest point of view, what the true reality of the world is.
We are still the richest nation on earth, but we are fat in body and mind, self-absorbed, filled with entitled expectations, acceptant of great disparity in wealth across our society, easily manipulated by politicians, partisan commentators, and celebrity billionaires alike, and addicted to social media and any and all other external stimulus. We have too few explorers, adventurers, and independent thinkers, and too many followers, fanatics, and acolytes.
History shows that all great empires fail from within, and the U.S. is no exception. Our culture and our character often seem shallow and weak.
In contrast, China exhibits a focus of intent that should put the rest of the world on notice.
China has single-mindedly overtaken the U.S. militarily, building ships and missiles and aircraft and bases of operation at a rate that we cannot match. Chinese military ships patrol off the coast of Alaska and have begun to patrol the Arctic Ocean.
China has supplanted the U.S. throughout the world as a source of funding through its Belt and Roads initiative.
China dominates the world’s manufacturing capacity. China effectively controls mineral rights to many chemicals and minerals vital to the world’s economy.
China bullies, intimidates and dominates all countries in its South China Sea sphere of influence. China constantly lies about its intentions and chooses to ignore the rights and interests of all other countries in the world, basically doing whatever it wants, wherever it wants, whenever it wants.
China intimidates Chinese immigrants in our own country. China buys farmland adjacent to our military bases. China owns more and more companies that were formerly owned by Americans. China influences our young people with propaganda disseminated through Tik-Tok.
China infected the entire world with the Covid-19 virus. This may have been an accidental, premature release of a biological weapon, a possibility that would explain the refusal of China to be forthright about the origin of the virus.
In the face of all of these developments, the U.S. seems unable to respond in any meaningful way. We seem to be intimidated and confused by the Chinese ascension, frozen into inaction like helpless prey instead of responding with aggressive self-protection.
The 75-year duration of U.S. influence in the world has benefited many, many countries through a rules-based system that respected the sovereignty of nations and encouraged self-determination and freedom.
Does anyone seriously believe that a similar period of Chinese influence and domination would benefit any country other than China? Has there been any period in Chinese history where benevolence characterized its behavior towards other nations, let alone towards its own people?
It does seem clear that China is destined to enjoy a period of domination in the world. The history of China is one of conquest and domination, so this current development should not be surprising.
It may take decades, but China will eventually find that exerting control over the entire world is expensive, exhausting, and ultimately unsustainable. History has repeatedly shown this to be the case. China’s domination will eventually run its course and its empire will collapse upon itself like all others before it.
In the meantime, however, the U.S. and its allies need to accept this reality and do what is necessary to strengthen alliances in order to preserve our own freedoms. In addition, the non-aligned nations of the world need to be mindful of becoming too entangled with China lest they lose their independence and self-determination.
Of vital importance for the U.S. is that we rapidly acknowledge the change in geopolitical power that has occurred and begin to act accordingly. Our position as the sole, dominant world power is over. It was inevitable that the U.S. would once again have to share the world with another superpower.
The previous cold war with the Soviet Union should provide many lessons for the U.S. as we enter into a new cold war with China. The U.S. coexisted with the Soviet Union for decades and had to compete geopolitically, always being aware of the strategic implications of its actions. It will be extremely self-destructive for the U.S. if it continues to refuse to acknowledge this new reality and begin to think and act strategically to address it.
As a society and as a country, the mindset of Americans must evolve if we are to continue to enjoy our way of life and standard of living as China continues to exert its dominance.
We need to begin by electing serious, reasonable, and pragmatic politicians that reject partisanship in favor of discussion and debate. The current state of inaction by the legislative branch of our federal government is pathetic and shameful. Too much control has been given to those who hold views so extreme as to make any consensus impossible to achieve.
In addition, we need to protect ourselves by controlling our borders. One aspect of this is to prevent uncontrolled illegal immigration and the flow of drugs and other contraband into our country. Another aspect is to restrict activity by foreign adversaries within our country, such as ownership of land and property, infrastructure, and strategic businesses, as well as the policing and intimidation of our people by foreign agents.
Still another aspect of controlling our borders is limiting access to our economy to protect domestic production of goods and services from predatory destruction by state-sponsored entities, and developing alternative supply chains that limit our exposure to economic blackmail and extortion.
We must not allow the ideals that we have as a free society to be subverted by our adversaries and used against us. We have the right and the responsibility to protect our strategic interests against enemies and adversaries both foreign and domestic. Questioning financial transactions, limiting technology transfer, and preventing intellectual theft are not infringements on our personal freedoms – they are acts of self-preservation.
It is important that we study how China has been able to develop itself so quickly into a modern society. There are important lessons to be learned from their accomplishments. China appears to have focused its efforts on creating bridges, buildings, trains, automobiles, power generation systems, even entire cityscapes in a manner that highlights cutting-edge design, aesthetics, and advanced technologies.
In contrast, our society seems to have been focused on creating wealth for a very few through cheapening the products we make and limiting how much people are paid to make them. Instead of glorifying those who take pride in accumulating excessive wealth, it would be far better to glorify those who take pride in designing and manufacturing products that are well-designed, exceptional in performance, and never break.
There was a time when products made in the U.S. were the world’s standard of excellence. This is clearly not a benchmark for us anymore. This willingness to accept the mediocre instead of aspiring to achieve excellence seems to have permeated much of our society. Sometimes it seems that we no longer have a sense of pride, only a sense of entitlement.
If it is truly important for the U.S. to remain at the forefront of the world, we must begin to act like it matters. It is as if we have been sleepwalking and daydreaming for decades, while the world has changed around us in ways that we have chosen to ignore. It is up to every generation to achieve the potential that this country makes possible. There is no resting on the laurels of the past.
There is still time for the U.S. to re-stake its claim to greatness, but we must accept that China has emphatically staked its own claim. China is out-performing us economically, militarily, and strategically. China’s challenge is a profound test of our collective character, and it is by no means certain that we can overcome our internal divisiveness, self-absorption and individual greed to be able to meet it.
In the meantime, we need to begin to do what China has been so successful in doing – learning to attack its strengths, steal its technology, and subvert its government.