The Chinese Communist Party can congratulate itself on another sign of its rise: its seeming ability to dictate American foreign policy. Thursday’s video call between Presidents Biden and Xi disclosed the extent of the Biden administration’s mismanagement of America’s ties with China and the fanciful thinking that continues to guide its China policy.

“Those who play with fire will perish by it,” Beijing’s party boss warned Mr. Biden, referring to Washington’s Free China policy. The U.S. “should be clear-eyed about this.”

It is striking –– though perhaps not surprising –– that Mr. Xi would feel at liberty to direct such language toward the leader of the free world. It is difficult to image such rhetoric being flung in the direction of a President Trump or a President Reagan, say, at least not without consequences.

Yet, like most authoritarians, China’s communists understand only strength, of which the Biden administration has demonstrated little. While feigning a tough policy posture, team Biden has continued to sell Communist China millions of barrels of oil from America’s strategic reserves.


To read the full story, click here.