America’s TikTok saga — the drama over whether the popular video-sharing app will be banned or saved — has many intriguing dimensions. It involves questions about free speech, privacy and the reach of presidential power. Yet the fate of TikTok is most important because it reveals a glaring weakness of America’s China policy — the fact that the US is trying to wage a cold war without inconveniencing itself.

Competition with China is one of the few areas of real bipartisan agreement in Washington. The last two presidential administrations treated Beijing as America’s foremost geopolitical rival. Anti-China measures are among the few initiatives that can win broad majorities in Congress. Polling shows that 4 out of 5 Americans have an unfavorable view of China and back efforts to contain its influence. Republican and Democratic hawks speak of the contest with Beijing as a fight for the future of the world.

There’s just one catch: Americans and their representatives support competing with China only so long as doing so doesn’t cause them much discomfort.

A slew of US officials and analysts have warned that war is coming in the Pacific, yet neither Donald Trump, in his first presidential term, nor Joe Biden sought the sustained defense spending increases that might help the Pentagon get ready — let alone the tax hikes or domestic spending cuts needed to bolster the........

© Bloomberg