September 19, 2023
Why Aren’t the Presidential Candidates Debating China?
The 2024 presidential race is the first since America woke up to a double shock from China: Not only has Beijing spurned U.S. “engagement” and emerged as our top strategic rival, but America also faces the real risk of losing a war to China over Taiwan by 2027, if not sooner. Responding to these shocks is the primary national-security challenge facing the next commander in chief.
Underestimating the China risk is a longstanding American strategic error.
The candidates, however, are saying surprisingly little about the subject. The first Republican primary debate all but ignored it. There was only one question about China, which North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum answered. Discussion shifted to securing the southern border, with China mentioned later only in passing. Voters deserve a direct discussion of the Chinese military threat.
Read the full article and more from The Wall Street Journal.
More from CNAS
-
Video
Indo-Pacific Security / Energy, Economics & Security
Trump Unfriends Modi's India: Trump Frothing, India CalmFrom tariffs to tantrums-Trump's latest anti-India tirade stirs global concern. As Washington watches in disbelief, Shiv Aroor discusses what this "break-up" means for India-U...
By Daniel Silverberg
-
Commentary
Indo-Pacific Security / Transatlantic Security / Middle East Security
A Project for a New World OrderIndeed, the gathering in Beijing suggests that the axis, rather than withering following the war in Iran in June, has momentum....
By Richard Fontaine & Andrea Kendall-Taylor
-
Video
Indo-Pacific Security / Transatlantic Security / Middle East Security
Xi, Putin, Kim Project United Front in ChinaRichard Fontaine, chief executive officer at the Center for a New American Security, joins BBC to discuss the Axis of Upheaval and the level of concern from the Trump administ...
By Richard Fontaine
-
How the U.S. Should Push the Quad-Plus to Protect Undersea Cables
Commentary
Subsea sabotage marks a new era in gray zone warfare, and the United States and its partners have a narrow window to expose and confront this threat before it becomes the new ...
By Ryan Claffey
