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Beijing poses a significant challenge to the U.S.; the issues are not primarily military, however. There is no present threat of aggression against America. The tyranny of distance affects the PRC no less than America, limiting any Chinese efforts to extend its power beyond East Asian-Pacific waters. Although the U.S. Should defend freedom of navigation in the western Pacific, that is best accomplished by helping to empower friendly states to advance their own interests.

Other issues should be addressed with recognition of the limits of U.S. Power, too. In practice, Washington can do little to force China to respect human rights. There is more hope of making economic gains through negotiation, especially if Washington works with major Asian and European states. In general, the greater the agreement, the greater the pressure that can be applied on Beijing to moderate its excesses and cooperate with Western states.

Through it all, Beijing so far has proved to be the greatest ally of China’s critics. The PRC has done almost everything possible to present itself as a threat to existing states, agreements, and norms. Even the European Union and governments previously friendly to China, such as Germany, have come under increasing pressure to toughen their stance.

Despite his past defiance, Xi Jinping apparently recognizes that his foreign policy has been hurting China. However, he imagines that his nation’s problem is simply poor PR, that all will be well if only his nation’s diplomats “make friends” around the world and convince others that the PRC wants “nothing but the Chinese people’s well-being.” He underestimates the difficulty of disguising unabashed tyranny.

Instead of attempting to cover up his regime’s many depredations and abuses and explain “why Marxism works,” Xi should focus on protecting “the Chinese people’s well-being.” His government should be uplifting and empowering them, not subjugating and imprisoning them. Then he wouldn’t have to try to whitewash Beijing’s policies. The PRC would naturally appear “credible, lovable, and respectable,” as he expressed, and in so doing “make friends extensively, unite the majority and continuously expand its circle of friends with those who understand and friendly to China.”

Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. A former special assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is author of Foreign Follies: America’s New Global Empire.

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