America’s Blinders on China Continues

Current-era bravado masked the CCP’s real global gains. Now, the U.S. risks losing strategic ground.

Congress knows China and its BRICS allies are a collective threat economically, militarily, and socially. And it does not sugarcoat the situation with Hearings titles like Financial Aggression, The CCP’s Role in the Fentanyl Crisis and Preventing Aggression on Taiwan, revealing an unvarnished truth: the CCP continues actively undermining U.S. interests.

The temerity of the current Administration toward China has proven commendable save for declarations of U.S. victory in matters ranging from economics to trade to military.

China and the Folly of America’s Strategic Drift

Beijing Remains Busy

Earlier this month, President Xi Jinping hosted Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un at a massive military parade in Beijing commemorating the end of World War II. “China flexes its muscle,” as The Guardian headlined it, signaled authoritarian states are closing ranks. Kim’s first visit to China in six years underscored Beijing’s unique leverage over North Korea, while he also pledged full support for Russia, including military aid in Ukraine.

At the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, Xi offered China as the gravitational center of a bloc that includes Russia, Iran, North Korea, and India, described by The Week as an “axis of upheaval”. Analysts now warn of emerging nuclear cooperation among these states. At the same time, Beijing is tightening its grip on global finance through BRICS, which has expanded into a potent economic bloc offering an alternative to Western-led institutions.

Truth be told:  all nations substantial to U.S. trade have unofficially adopted agnostic trade principles, or in more laymen vernacular, “whomever has the best deal.” India represents the recent poster child of this shift that undoubtedly is to the detriment of the U.S.

Two Narratives, Both Dangerous

China’s ambitions do not stop at military parades or regional alliances. Through BRICS — an expanded economic bloc that now wields significant influence over energy, trade, and global finance, Beijing is building an alternative to the Western-led order. What began as a loose group of emerging economies has hardened into a platform where China positions itself as the indispensable leader, offering infrastructure loans, new financial hubs, and trade partnerships that pull countries further from U.S. influence. For America, this is a quiet shift in the rules of the global economy that leaves Washington increasingly on the outside looking in.

BRICS Momentum Continues Unignored

This is the real world in which China is not cautious but assertive.

And yet Americans are told two stories that keep them from confronting it. From the Biden Administration, the message is that China is a “competitor” and sometimes a “partner” on climate and trade. The intent is to lower tensions, but the result is mixed signals. From Trump, the story is that China has already been beaten into submission, or that the threat is exaggerated. Both messages encourage passivity but leave the public underinformed.

The Real Threat: Erosion, Not Invasion

The strategic, economic decay of the U.S. continues unabated: China builds advanced warships, next-gen energy sources, and new legacy supplier partnerships while the U.S. debates contradictory. It tightens choke points in global supply chains and deepens bonds with hostile regimes.

BRICS about Economic Power, Not Military Leverage

More domestic perspective is necessary. Current-era bravado and bipartisan muddling have proven distractive and misdirected.