The current trajectory of China’s economic and geopolitical policies under the leadership of its president is deeply concerning. Choosing to provoke or sustain a tariff war with the United States is not only shortsighted but potentially catastrophic for the Chinese economy.
In today’s interconnected global order, the United States and its allies, including powerful NATO member states, largely call the shots. From finance to trade, technology to military influence, the West still holds the most critical levers of global power.
China, despite its rapid growth and industrial might, lacks allies with strong, independent economic structures capable of standing toe-to-toe with the United States and the broader NATO alliance. Russia, its most visible ally today, is itself under heavy sanctions and international isolation. North Korea is economically crippled. Iran faces internal and external instability. There is no credible economic bloc aligned with China that can offer it the buffer needed in a full-scale economic conflict with the West.
Let it be clear: any conflict with the U.S. today is not a bilateral affair. It is a clash with an entire global network, the NATO countries and other Western partners who coordinate and act with remarkable economic and strategic cohesion.
China would be better served by pursuing diplomacy, economic collaboration, and internal reforms rather than playing a high-stakes game of economic brinkmanship. Pride and nationalism must never override pragmatic, forward-looking leadership. The dance being danced today could become the downfall of a nation that has come too far to risk it all.