'If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of 100 battles, knowing one's self, but not your adversary for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat and not knowing the enemy or oneself you will succumb in every battle.'                        ”

— The Art of War

The Athenian general and historian Thucydides—whose experiences led to the Peloponnesian war between a strong Sparta and a rising Athens—surmised war is inevitable when an established existing power feels threatened by a new emerging power.

China, whose turbulent 5,000-year history through dynastic expansion to its current Communist ideology, represented by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), has it now facing the most advanced and powerful nation economically and militarily the world has ever known, whose rise through the last 235 years is unprecedented in over 10,000 years of human history: the United States of America.

Communist China is not a friend of this nation, especially under the ultra-nationalist Xi Jinping. 

They have exploited our freedoms, conducted significant espionage, and rapidly grew their socialist market economy, thanks primarily to an American generation that decimated domestic manufacturing and its workforce over the past few decades for profit, seemingly oblivious that it was still dealing with a despot communist government whose history of suppressing its citizens since the 1949 Cultural Revolution has cost tens of millions of lives, including those brave students who stood up for democracy, only to be murdered on Tiananmen Square in the spring of 1989.

Beijing is taking every opportunity to expand its influence around the world with questionable projects like the “Belt and Road Initiative” (B&R). 

On the surface, it looks like a resurgence of the famed silk road that operated for more than 1,600 years, until the mid-17th century, as the main trade route with China and the West. 

However, this initiative is manipulating nations into debt across Central Asia with infrastructure projects coupled with unsecured loans to companies controlled by the People's Republic Army (PRA).

China cares nothing about human rights, which has mass appeal to pariah nations who avoid dealing with Western economies due to ideological differences on the value of every human life.

The recent cessation of hostilities brokered by Beijing between the autocracy of Saudi Arabia and theocracy of Iran was only meant to secure energy resources from Riyadh and Tehran, whose own human rights records are among the worst on the planet.

Today 7,000,000 are dead, and 100,000,000 are infected globally, because China chose silence instead of the decisive action necessary which would have prevented a global pandemic.

To contain China, the United States, done with its foray in Southwest Asia is establishing new ties and revitalizing dynamic regional economic, technological and military alliances that can counter any move by China. 

• The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad, which includes the U.S., Japan, India and Australia, is one of the most important alliances created in the post-Cold War Era whose primary focus is the containment of Communist China.

  Quad is already intimidating the decision-making in Beijing, especially when it comes to the buildup of strategic facilities in the South China Sea which jeopardizes the territorial integrity of numerous sovereign nations and nearly $6 trillion in trade that transits the region annually.

The recent announcement of a thaw in relations between Japan and South Korea is remarkable, and eventually could lead to South Korea joining the alliance.

• The establishment of USINDOPACOM (US Indio-Pacific Command) which extended the historical responsibilities of the USPACOM (U.S. Pacific Command) integrates all operations involving the Indian Ocean into that command. A truly historic move, given the strategic importance of key regional allies such as India and Australia.

Even as China extends its raw tonnage in ships, making it the largest navy in the world, the United States Navy, whose storied history, unmatched operational capabilities and superior personnel remains the world’s leading naval power. 

Underestimating these capabilities and those of our regional allies—given its ambitions for Taiwan—would unleash a decisive tactical advantage we possess across the Pacific designed to confuse, delay, draw and terminate any offensive action across the Taiwan Straights.

• FONOP or Freedom of Navigation Operations are continuously conducted through the international waters of the South China Sea and the Straights of Taiwan, ensuring the safe passage of trade. Meanwhile, the U.S. Pacific Fleet continuously conducts joint exercises with regional powers that force-multiplies anything sea, air or land-based the Chinese can sortie. 

Recently speaking at the National Press Club, our Secretary of the Navy, Carlos Del Toro, commented on China's growth fleet and its capabilities.

"U.S. personnel are better on their feet; they script their people to fight and we train ours to think," adding "There's a fundamental difference in how we train our Marines and our sailors and our soldiers and our airmen and our Space Force in this country that gives us an inherent advantage over anything the Chinese can put up."

• FVEY or 'Five Eyes'  is an alliance conceived during WWII, comprising the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, which shares all levels of intelligence and whose unmatched and classified operational capabilities have been paramount to our national security, along with that of the other members, for nearly eight decades.
• AUKUS is a dynamic new partnership between the U.S., U.K. and Australia, which now will give Australia SSN (submerged ship nuclear) capabilities, enhancing their conventional submarine force with the addition of nuclear subs similar to our Virginia Class, with the ability to remain submerged and silent for months, adding a strategic and tactical advantage surpassing anything from China.
• World's largest economy with trade throughout the region in excess of $1.2 trillion annually with some of the world's largest economies only amplifies the pivotal role the United States has in ensuring regional stability, which enhances our national security.   
• Energy security is a major advantage for the United States, with vast domestic resources, gives us an advantage, as China needs to import nearly all of its sources. This is a major detriment to Beijing. 

China, like imperial Japan following the oil and gas embargo from FDR in the summer of 1941, will have to decide about going to war without secured energy reserves, which has proven catastrophic throughout history. In any conflict, cutting off the supply chain from anywhere in the world to China will be among the first items eliminated.

China is heading into a typhoon of its own design, with its dangerous geopolitical course, as we, our regional allies and numerous other world powers remain vigilant and prepared, and will, if necessary, make sure that any aggression toward its neighbors is met with repercussions that will decimate any future threat from ever materializing.

This is dedicated to the 1st Marine Division whose unsurpassed courage, honor, tenacity and bravery at the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir will forever be remembered as one of this nation's finest hours. 

Ned Sader has more than two decades of public affairs experience working for corporate and nonprofits, with a specialty in the development of public/private partnerships. He has served on numerous regional boards and is a lifelong resident of Wayne County. For more of his writing, click here.