5 US Policy Responses to the CCP Threat

Trump is not the kind of guy to let such threats go lightly. It’s more likely that Xi’s threat will only provoke a more aggressive response on the part of the new U.S. president, who will have a majority in the Senate, a majority in the House of Representatives, a supportive Supreme Court, and a booming stock market behind him. U.S. allies in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia are numerous and strong.
Xi, on the other hand, faces economic problems at home, including a debt crisis at the local government level, property market collapse, unemployment, deflation, capital flight, and a declining stock market. Iran’s proxies are getting pummeled by Israel, Russia is struggling to hold what it took from Ukraine and is relying on inexperienced North Korean soldiers who are expected to get beat.
So Xi has very little latitude in starting his relationship with the newest U.S. president with a threat. But he did so, albeit paired with an offer of “cooperation” to China’s advantage. Trump is likely already taking advice from Vice President-elect JD Vance, a confirmed China hawk, on how to undermine the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) even more than previously planned.
Fourth, consider that in many cases, the best defense is a good offense, as Trump knows more than most. The Chinese regime is nickel-and-diming us to death around the world, to the point that it is quickly gaining on us economically and could leverage that global economic influence to wrest political control of the United Nations or European Union, for example, for use against some future U.S. government. Before that time comes, perhaps decades from today, the CCP threat could be nipped in the bud. This could be done quietly through cyber, for example, by degrading the People’s Liberation Army’s aerospace and naval assets, including with Trump’s Space Force. As China’s technological sophistication is developing rapidly, there is not much time left for defensive measures such as these.