The China Threat Is Being Overhyped
The country has neither the capabilities nor the motivation to pose an existential danger to the U.S.
China’s military lacks the warfighting experience of U.S. forces.
Photographer: Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images
Republicans across the political spectrum, from moderate Senator Mitt Romney to fire-breathing former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, have decreed that China poses an existential threat to the United States. While President Joe Biden hasn’t gone that far yet, his national-security team has maintained the previous administration’s hardline policies toward Beijing. Any other stance would risk a political backlash: The latest Gallup poll shows nearly 80% of Americans hold unfavorable views of China — a number that will only rise if U.S. intelligence agencies conclude that the new coronavirus leaked from a Chinese lab.
Biden should think carefully before he commits himself further. Countries facing an existential threat must mobilize and deploy all their resources to confront, if not remove, that threat and ensure their survival. How the Biden administration assesses the threat China poses will effectively determine war and peace in the 21st century.