Xi Jinping’s Visit Should Be an Occasion for Hard Truths

Xi Jinping’s state visit to Washington capped off a week of heightened attention to America’s stance on some of our foremost foreign policy challenges. In my experience, these big set-piece diplomatic summits don’t tend to result in diplomatic breakthroughs – but they are important opportunities to express our nation’s priorities, posture, and expectations.

The flyover by two U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers upon Xi Jinping’s arrival at Andrews Air Base set exactly the right tone: Do not mistake our diplomatic pomp and ceremony for weakness.

Make no mistake: President Trump has the measure of Xi Jinping. It’s why, in his first Administration, he was the first President to finally level with the American people about the threat posed by China to America’s security, freedom, and prosperity, and reoriented America’s entire policy approach to reckon with that challenge. So, while we should not expect to see this summit yield any fundamental improvement in the Sino-American relationship, it does provide an opportunity for the President to sit face-to-face with Xi and demand action on some key issues.

Xi Jinping should come away from this summit with a firm understanding that America will impose real costs if China continues to support Iran. China has not only been propping up Iran’s economy through oil purchases, but it has also shared satellite intelligence needed to target U.S. troops, and provides the components for weapons used to attack U.S. forces and U.S. allies across the region. America should be ready to deploy the tools put forward as part of Secretary Bessent’s “Operation Economic Outcast” to go after the Chinese banks and entities purchasing Iranian oil and keeping its economy afloat.

This should not be a matter of making concessions to Beijing in exchange for backing off on Iran, such as tying U.S. arms sales to Taiwan to Chinese action on Iran. Iran can’t hold out forever in the face of sustained American pressure; we should communicate the very real costs of backing the wrong horse to Beijing, and be prepared to back up that threat with action.

Remember: Xi is always watching, calculating, waiting for the moment when he believes America lacks the will to defend Taiwan from his long-planned conquest. America’s commitment to Taiwan’s security and independence is central to our Indo-Pacific security strategy, and provides the chips we need to power our AI revolution. We cannot afford to communicate any ambivalence about that commitment – ever.

And of course, it’s not just Iran that Beijing has been propping up. China is a critical economic lifeline to Russia, enabling Putin to continue his war on Ukraine and to continue to destabilize Europe. One of the key ways that we can raise the costs of the war for Putin is by pressuring China – and the secondary sanctions and secondary tariffs included in the newly signed Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act give the U.S. government the power to do just that.

Xi Jinping believes that America is weak and decadent and is doing everything in his power to exploit those perceived weaknesses to supplant us as the world’s dominant superpower. That recognition underlies his support for our adversaries and is at the heart of his geopolitical strategy. But he won’t achieve that goal unless we cede the values and sources of power that have made us great to begin with. Let’s make sure we never do.

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