Define the Threat
Recommendation 1: Clarify that the U.S.-China relationship is one of genuine adversaries, not friendly competitors
Only when a problem is properly identified can it be solved. We will not be capable of taking the necessary steps to combat the Chinese Communist’s Party’s (CCP) influences until we recognize that the Communist Party only acts in ways to advance its interests and undermine America.
Stop Strengthening China
Recommendation 2: Resurrect and enlarge the Department of Justice’s China Initiative targeting Chinese espionage (which President Biden just ended)
Recommendation 3: Bar members of the CCP and other Chinese nationals from federally contracted or grant funded national security related research projects, including at U.S. or allied universities with an explicit ban on U.S. universities hosting Confucius Institutes
Recommendation 4: Ban American investment funds from financing any firms connected to China’s military or surveillance state
Recommendation 5: Build a China-resistant economy by cutting China out of U.S. supply chains in key industries such as critical electronics, energy and pharmaceuticals
It should be obvious that America should not undertake initiatives that strengthen China. In a global power struggle, economic, technological, and military strength are connected. Protecting U.S. innovation and cutting-edge technology from Chinese-sponsored espionage and corporate theft is a critical front line in this new cold war. America must work with allies to establish strategic stockpiles of critical electronics and raw, rare earth minerals needed to build them. Establishing new production and manufacturing capacity in other key industries such as energy and pharmaceuticals also must be a priority. We must put up defenses between U.S. investment, research, and supply chains and China to protect the economic and technological advances that drive our hard power advantage.
Stop Weakening America
Recommendation 6: Get our fiscal house in order and reduce the national debt
Recommendation 7: Cut damaging, growth-killing regulations (e.g., the Biden war on American energy, federal Environmental, Social, and Governance requirements, NEPA, pro-union labor regulations, etc.)
Recommendation 8: Abandon government-sponsored “woke” objectives
While protecting American technology and innovation from China is critical, it is equally important to create an environment that fosters domestic growth and innovation. The U.S. should never try to beat China at its own game and succumb to the temptation of CCP-style top-down central planning. Instead, we should shrink the size and influence of the federal government on Americans’ daily lives and recommit ourselves to the free-market principles that have made the U.S. the world’s strongest, most prosperous economy. Additionally, we should stop pursuing at home a “woke” agenda that saps our economy of its dynamism and vitality, forcing individuals and companies to focus on identity politics and climate objectives instead of allowing them to concentrate their energy on innovative ideas.
Defeat China’s Propaganda Machine
Recommendation 9: Hold CCP leaders accountable for the ongoing Uyghur genocide
Recommendation 10: Hold CCP leaders accountable for errors and mistakes at the Wuhan Institute of Virology
Recommendation 11: Restrict Chinese media outlets and official spokespersons from using American social media to inject CCP propaganda into American domestic political debates
Recommendation 12: Make U.S. CEOs personally liable if their business knowingly provides technological assistance to Beijing’s human rights abuses
While economic and military power play a central role in the U.S.-China conflict, at its heart, this is a conflict of ideology. China believes that democracy and freedom move too slowly and are too messy to compete with their communist autocracy, but we know that their system of oppression is inherently evil. A global response is required to effectively counter and contain the malign intentions of the CCP, akin to Reagan’s response to the Soviet Union during the Cold War. America must constantly showcase the evils of the CCP to convince our allies to choose freedom and long-held democratic values over short-term profits and the easy gains that accompany the CCP’s human rights abuses.
Oppose “Multilateralism for Multilateralism’s Sake”
Recommendation 13: Stop negotiating meaningless climate treaties which bind the U.S. and our allies but let China continue to produce vast amounts of carbon
Recommendation 14: Do not join any arms control agreement that reduces American defense capabilities while leaving China’s power unchecked
While the support of other nations is vital to our efforts to combat the CCP, we cannot enter into international agreements that put the U.S. at a comparative disadvantage to China. A strong economy requires affordable, reliable energy, and the U.S. is blessed with resources to provide that both domestically and abroad to our allies. International agreements that limit our ability to use these resources while still allowing the CCP to continue its destructive environmental behavior will give China the upper hand.
The same is true of arms agreements. We have built the greatest military the world has ever seen. We should not join agreements that tie one hand behind our back without simultaneously reducing China’s military strength. As we have seen repeatedly, China uses multilateral organizations, agreements, and treaties when convenient and abandons them whenever it is not. The CCP never takes action unless it serves China’s interests. The U.S. should reject arms agreements that will only embolden the CCP and make armed conflict more likely.
Support Taiwan
Recommendation 15: Strategically embrace Taiwan diplomatically and economically
Recommendation 16: Equip Taiwan to defend itself militarily with equipment and weapons
Taiwan is on the front line of the China threat. As a free, capitalist nation near its borders, Taiwan is feared and despised by China. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has shown the disproportionate impact a determined defender wielding modern weaponry can have on an invader. As we have seen throughout history, weakness and appeasement embolden aggressive, aspiring empires, whereas strength and resolve create real dilemmas. Drawing a hard line against Chinese aggression across the Taiwan Strait will send the message that China cannot simply take what it wants by force. The U.S. should commit to helping Taiwan defend itself by providing arms, training, and intelligence, along with greater diplomatic recognition.