There Can Be Only One: Preventing China From Becoming a Superpower

China does not want to coexist with a powerful America; China has a long-term strategy to weaken and supplant America. 

Mike Phelps | September 25, 2026

Chinese President Xi Jinping is visiting America the third week of September. Many Americans in and out of government refuse to accept the truth that Xi and Communist China are not America’s friend. It has been more than 25 years since President George W. Bush described the Chinese as strategic competitors. Perhaps this was his polite way of pointing out that the Communist regime is not a friend. If that was his intent, he and successive administrations failed to act accordingly. America’s economic ties and our dependence on China have only increased. This was vividly illustrated during the Chinese-caused worldwide pandemic of 2021. Millions of dead around the globe, many billions in economic damage and incalculable losses in livelihoods, freedoms, and social connections.

Presidents Obama and Biden seemed to have no answer to the China question except to acquiesce to China’s increasingly aggressive posture. Hacking of American computer networks, theft of intellectual property and military technology, information warfare on platforms such as TikTok have been met mostly with indifference. President Trump has not been perfect on this issue either. The president still seems to think a grand accommodation with China is possible. If this is true, he misunderstands China’s endgame. China isn’t seeking accommodation with the U.S. -- it is seeking victory over the U.S.

China does not want to coexist with a powerful America; China has a long-term strategy to weaken and supplant America. Much of the Chinese plan is laid out in the 1999 book, Unrestricted Warfare, written by a pair of Chinese colonels. Interviewed after publication, the officers explained, “The first rule of unrestricted warfare is that there are no rules, with nothing forbidden.” There’s nothing earthshattering about this observation. It is mostly in line with the views expressed in China’s enduring military........

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