Chinese ruler Xi Jinping came to Washington DC last week to meet with President Donald Trump.
“If you know the enemy and know yourself,” Sun Tzu wrote in The Art of War, “you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.”
I pray that President Trump understands this foe: Xi and, more generally, the Chinese Communist Party…enemies to all freedom-loving people across the globe. China is engaged in the largest military buildup since World War II, if not of all time. It is a threat on the march.
Taiwan comes first to mind. China regularly threatens to invade the island nation, which has blossomed into Asia’s most free and democratic country. It is also a driver of the global high-tech economy, producing over 90 percent of the world’s high-end computer chips.
While the People’s Liberation Army circles the island in nearly constant military exercises and launches cyberattacks and a range of gray-zone dirty tricks to try to strong-arm the Taiwanese into joining their one big happy commie family, Mr. Trump has held up a $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan for months. Suggesting that doing so could serve as a useful bargaining chip with Xi.
“President Trump has sold more arms to Taiwan than any other president,” replied Representative John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) when questioned about this. But he added, “It’s important to note that China’s aggression—whether it’s toward Japan or the Philippines or toward Taiwan—is really creating the instability. We have a responsibility to help Taiwan defend itself.”
China also continues to bully Philippine ships in Philippine waters of the South China Sea, just recently again causing injuries. The United States, a treaty ally of the Philippines, is committed to its military defense in the event of a Chinese attack.
And the Chinese are constantly attacking.
The Wall Street Journal just reported that China is funding the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are “rattling the global energy trade” by attacking Saudi tankers in the Red Sea. Part of a strategy to undermine the lawful international order.
All this is just a sample. Xi’s CCP is the biggest enemy to peace and freedom in the world. Mr. President, please act accordingly.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
This article originally appeared September 24, 2026 at ThisIsCommonSense.org
