Do you think that defending Ukraine is the existential battle for freedom in our lifetime? 

I don't. Not that I want Vlad the Mad Putin to take over Ukraine, but the US faces much bigger problems than getting involved in a territorial dispute in a country with which we have almost no shared interests. 

China says it is ready for 'any type of war' with US https://t.co/z77ig3L6y2

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) March 5, 2025

For over twenty years, presidents have talked about the "pivot to Asia" in US foreign policy, and for over 20 years that pivot never happened. 

The reason for all that talk is simple: most of the action in the world economy touches Asia in some way, yet the region is not especially stable politically and militarily. China is an expansionist power, Russia is a player in the Pacific as well as Europe, and territorial disputes are more common there and much more important than in Europe. 

China and the Philippines are in a lukewarm war over territorial disputes, and China's ambitions to retake Taiwan are coming to a head. 

And now China declares that it is ready for war with the United States. 

We all saw this coming. As the US economy became ever more intertwined with China, the Chinese ambition and capability to exercise economic and military power has grown even faster. 

China has warned the US it is ready to fight "any type" of war after hitting back against President Donald Trump's mounting trade tariffs.

The world's top two economies have edged closer to a trade war after Trump slapped more tariffs on all Chinese goods. China quickly retaliated imposing 10-15% tariffs on US farm products.

"If war is what the US wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we're ready to fight till the end," China's embassy said on X, reposting a line from a government statement on Tuesday.

It is some of the strongest rhetoric so far from China since Trump became president and comes as leaders gathered in Beijing for the annual National People's Congress.

I don't expect hostilities to break out tomorrow, although the trade war is heating up already. But China has been expanding its military at an alarming rate, with the world's largest (but not most powerful) Navy, an anti-access area-denial umbrella of ballistic missiles, an increasingly capable air force, and bellicose policies against its neighbors. 

China issued a stark warning Tuesday night that it stands ready for any "type of war" with the U.S. in the aftermath of tariffs imposed hours earlier by the Trump administration.

Read more: https://t.co/VV0Bt09T9y pic.twitter.com/AYMhH10jHR

— ABC News (@ABC) March 5, 2025

War games have been worrying our military leaders, showing devastating losses for Americans in any conflict should it occur. As the US has had trouble remaking our military from one focused on small conflicts against ragtag terrorists to one ready to take on near-peer adversaries, China has been laser focused on building capabilities to take advantage of our long supply lines and reliance on carriers and fixed air bases to project power in the region. 

"Intimidation does not scare us. Bullying does not work on us. Pressuring, coercion or threats are not the right way of dealing with China," he added.

The US-China relationship is always one of the most contentious in the world. This post on X has been widely shared and could be used by the China hawks in Trump's cabinet as evidence that Beijing is Washington's biggest foreign policy and economic threat.

Officials in Beijing had been hopeful that US–China relations under Trump could get off to a more cordial start after he invited Xi to his inauguration. Trump also said the two leaders had "a great phone call" just a few days before he entered the White House.

There were reports that the two leaders were due to have another call last month. That did not happen.

Both the United States and China have many reasons to avoid a costly conflict, but the same was even more true before World War I in Europe. 

And the point of military power more often than not is to deter wars, not win them. Which is why a global power like the United States must maintain overwhelming military might. Even a Chinese military that may look on paper somewhat weaker than the United States could defeat us in a conflict because we cannot commit all our forces to one theater. We have forces based around the world; China can focus all its efforts in one limited region and gain superiority where it counts. 

China Ramping Up Their Military Budget Signals a New Era of Global Power Playshttps://t.co/gM2Z1wqPs0

— RedState (@RedState) March 5, 2025

This, more than even the humanitarian and fiscal incentives to end the Ukraine war, justifies Trump's hardball tactics in Europe. Our main adversary is China, and Xi Jinping is laying down the gauntlet. 

Xi, it is said, wants to get Taiwan back before he exits the political scene. I can't see into his head to know that this is true, but if so war of some kind is inevitable. 

And Xi is signaling he is ready.