American Analysis: Ending our Marriage with Communist China

Ending our Marriage with Communist China

“We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship,

support any friend, oppose any foe to ensure the survival

and success of liberty”

President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address on January 20, 1961

The threat is China, and we must never lose sight of it. A game of chicken is being played along economic, military, and scientific lines. We are marching towards a confrontation in the South China Sea, and the trigger will probably be the island nation of Taiwan, which we hold as a strategic ally and supplier of computer chips, while China sees it as a renegade province. It is where the formerly democratic government of China took refuge after it escaped the communist revolution in the mainland in 1949. We welcomed the democratic government in Taiwan, with a population of some 20 million people, under President Chiang Kai-shek, to membership in American-led military alliances. The U.S. then began a policy of containment of communist China, with nearly a billion people under Chairman Mao Zedong. The policy of containment and isolation has led to two proxy wars with China, first in Korea in 1950, which ended in a stalemate, and later in Vietnam in 1955, which ended with our humiliating defeat in 1975.

President Richard M. Nixon moved to end the isolation of China with a personal visit to its capital, Beijing, in 1972. China was later admitted to the World Trade Organization in 2001. It was all done to try to integrate China into the international community of nations in exchange for neighborly behavior. China became rich as a cheap manufacturer for the U.S. and Europe while violating treaties and international rules of behavior. It has used its newfound wealth to enslave the people of Hong Kong, to harass its neighbors in the China Sea, and to pursue global economic and military dominance. American accommodating policies are facilitating their agenda.

Will China engage in acts of war against the U.S.? Yes, as soon as it achieves overwhelming military superiority in the Asia-Pacific region. It has already built the world's largest navy. The communist Chinese may restrict free navigation in the South China Sea, and it may outright invade Taiwan. Will we have non-nuclear military options? No, but we can decouple China’s economy from ours, which will cause unbearable pain to the Chinese. An economic breakup with China can be brutally disruptive for the U.S. as well unless it prepares in advance for it. The U.S. must begin to lead Western democracies in the process of shifting production of essential supplies from China to the U.S. and its allies. Products like antibiotics, rare earth, critical computer parts, and many others must have alternative sources of supply. We should, in fact, transfer much of our supply chain from China to Mexico, South America, and the U.S., which would bring great benefits to us. We should also rush to increase robotic manufacturing to minimize dependence on cheap Chinese labor. Once we develop a fail-safe supply chain infrastructure, the Chinese leverage will be arrested, and their cost of aggression will become prohibitive. If this strategic production is not counterbalanced, the risk of confrontation and war will continue to grow.

On the military front, China is engaged in a massive buildup, with gigantic efforts in the research and development of new weapons. They have publicized their capacity to sink American aircraft carriers, knock down our communication satellites from orbit, and disrupt our cyber infrastructure. It has also amassed a huge army, far more than their defensive needs. The U.S. has no choice but to continue its military modernization of the past years, and to rapidly advance its development of the American Space Force. The communist government of China is not likely to change its ways voluntarily, only internal regime change, or confrontation from the West can do that. A strong and decisive America is the only defense against Chinese domination of the world and the imposition of global totalitarianism.