President Richard Nixon’s rule for handling other countries was: “Do unto others as they would do unto you.” Then–Secretary of State Henry Kissinger corrected him, saying, “Plus 10 percent.” The legendary Jimmy Hoffa gave this notion sharper elbows: “I do to others what they do to me, only worse.”

President Joe Biden’s letting the Chinese spy balloon enter America’s airspace illustrates yet again that his approach is more: “Do unto others … minus 10 percent.” His “Slowest Gun in the East” posture perfectly fits his flaccid stance toward China, sends a dangerous message to the world, and reflects how the United States now copes with China.

America and other Western countries need to make a marked shift in mindset to address properly the travesties perpetrated by the Chinese Communist Party. Here are five key reasons why.

First, current political efforts and policies have done little to bridle China. A compilation of speeches given by President Donald J. Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, National Security Adviser Robert C. O’Brien, Attorney General Bill Barr, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Trump on China: Putting America First, finely details China’s evil and expresses the need for an “all of government” plan to combat the CCP.

But these speeches did too little. China violated and continues to breach its $200 billion trade agreement with America. Had Trump been reelected, he certainly would have taken his anti-China plans to a higher level. Biden’s policy largely has been to determine what Trump did and then do the exact opposite.

Last November, Biden shook hands with President Xi Jinping and then told journalists that they talked about the climate. China, of course, uses more coal than the rest of the world combined and has no plans to stop. While living in China during the depths of COVID, I saw residents of small towns burn trash every morning. Carbon dioxide seemed the last thing on their minds.

“Global coal consumption by region, 2000–2021,” International Energy Agency, Oct. 26, 2022.

Biden did not even mention the CCP-exported fentanyl that fatally poisons roughly 200 Americans every day.

Second, CCP victim groups are numerous but too loosely connected to influence much change. Washington lobbyists dilute already weak policies that lack a strategic foundation. Famous American athletes escape any real ridicule when they criticize perceived racial injustice in the United States and shun others who rightly decry human-rights violations in China.

Third, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), chairman of the new House Select Committee on China, recently told his colleagues that “it is time to understand the urgency of the threat” from the CCP and justifiably praised the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.

Roll Call summarized Gallagher’s account of his committee’s agenda, stating that the congressman “stressed that he wants to avoid duplicating the work of the defense panel and the jurisdiction of other national security committees, adding his panel should ‘play a coordinating function’ between them all.” On Taiwan, Gallagher and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) pledged to “make the urgent case for aiding Taiwan in its self-defense.”

The point is that Gallagher has not articulated an overarching strategy for foiling the CCP’s goals. He has done the reverse. He seems to want to fight one battle at a time rather than to win the war — to use an analogy that recalls his well-respected Marine Corps background.

Gallagher’s piecemeal approach is a detailed war plan compared to Biden’s complete inability to articulate a mission objective on the China threat. If anything, Biden’s strategic incoherence will cost America victory against China.

Fourth, every think tank, educational institution, podcaster, and government policymaking agency has researched China — globally. The time for research is over. For a recap of China’s transgressions, read The China Declaration.

With the facts on China’s evils painfully clear, these two questions arise: Should there even be a strategy for handling the CCP? If so, what is it?

Fifth, global public opinion strongly supports real action. Pew Research Center outlines globally unfavorable views of China. They are historically high, as one would expect in the wake of the COVID catastrophe. Among Australians, 86 percent have an unfavorable view of China; in Japan, 87 percent; in the U.S., 82 percent. But there is little that individuals can do. It is time for the masses to rise up and demand a real strategy.

Finally, after specifying China’s transgressions, The China Declaration proposes this strategy: “[Bring] freedom from the influence of the CCP to people in China and abroad.” Yes, China’s 1.4 billion people are the CCP’s biggest victims. Americans should care about them just as we historically grieved for the men, women, and children of the captivate nations behind the Iron Curtain.

Let’s start by making life miserable for the CCP’s top criminals who torture their own people: All 2,300 members of China’s National Congress should be blacklisted. No more U.S. visas for them. No more college admissions for their princes and princesses. And no more real-estate deals for the wardens of the giant prison that is today’s China.

Many similar nonmilitary initiatives would send China’s leaders a simple message: Enough is enough. Start acting like modern, humane public servants, not oppressors for life.

Brad Good is a China expert and the president of The China Declaration. He has two masters from the University of Chicago and has lived and worked in China since 1988. He speaks fluent Mandarin and authored the bestselling book The Control Center.

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