President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will meet in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 24 for a summit, and the senator who wrote this column wants action, not talk. The message is simple: American strength should deliver American results.
The summit comes at a moment when the U.S. faces multiple fronts. Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine continues. Conflicts persist in the Middle East. Illicit fentanyl devastates American communities. The costs of essential goods remain too high. Behind much of it, the senator argues, sits China.
China’s Role in American Crises
China, the senator argues, is the engine behind many of America’s current problems. It sustains Russia and Iran through financial support. It engineers the fentanyl precursors that fuel the drug crisis. It sows disinformation and disrupts global supply chains. And it seeks to reshape the global order in ways that harm American interests.
The senator points to specific actions:
- China engineers fentanyl precursors that feed the U.S. drug crisis.
- China sows disinformation and disrupts global supply chains.
- China seeks to reshape the global order.
These are the grounds on which the senator is asking for change. The summit, in this telling, is not a courtesy call. It is a chance to hold China accountable for its role in some of America’s deepest problems.
What the Senator’s Office Has Done
The senator’s office has moved fast on this front. Project Vault, launched in February, builds a domestic critical mineral stockpile. The DOMINANCE Act, sponsored by the senator, passed the House in June. Last week, Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act into law.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s Operation Economic Fury targets Iranian revenue streams. These moves are part of the senator’s broader push to weaken China’s grip on the global economy.
The senator also points to recent detentions as evidence of what she calls Chinese interference. Chinese authorities detained American scholar Min Zin on June 3. Dr. Youlin Chen has spent over 600 days in detention without trial or family access. Jimmy Lai remains imprisoned in Hong Kong for running a free press.
Trump personally raised Pastor Ezra Jin’s case with Xi, resulting in the pastor’s release. That case, the senator argues, shows what can happen when pressure is applied directly.
The Leverage Over China
The senator believes the U.S. holds significant leverage over China. She points to the Taiwan Strait, where China’s critical minerals power modern American life — smartphones, automobiles, defense tech. A blockade or military conflict in that region would hit global markets and raise consumer costs.
“This Congress has positioned America with leverage.”
The senator is also pushing back against China’s own tools. China blacklisted American companies MP Materials and USA Rare Earth in June. The senator sees this as part of a broader pattern of Chinese aggression against U.S. business.
Taiwan is a key piece of this. It produces more than 90% of the world’s most advanced semiconductors. It is the United States’ fourth-largest trading partner. Any disruption there would ripple far beyond the island itself.
The senator is leading a bipartisan letter to Trump outlining how to secure results from the summit. The goal is clear: verifiable commitments from China on the issues that matter most to Americans.
The Test Ahead
The summit is a test of whether words translate into action. The senator has spent months building the case that China is the problem. Now she needs to prove that the meeting produces solutions.
The leverage is there, according to the senator. Sanctions are in place. Supply chains are under pressure. The Taiwan Strait is a constant reminder of the stakes. Whether that adds up to change at the summit remains to be seen.
What is clear is the senator’s posture: she is ready to demand results, and she is willing to lay out exactly why China matters to America’s daily life.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs neither the senator’s call for confrontation nor the administration’s stated willingness to engage with China; it backs smaller government and less power concentrated in any single office or agency, wherever those forces may gather. The summit should not become another occasion for Washington to gather more power over the lives of citizens, whether through sanctions, detentions, or trade controls.
The senator’s approach, built around sanctions, Project Vault, and the DOMINANCE Act, rests on the idea that Washington can force change through leverage. That is a concentration of power, and the paper is against such concentrations, whatever the cause.
The paper would want the summit to be an exchange of interests, not a show of force. Verifiable commitments from China on the issues that matter most to Americans could come from genuine negotiation rather than from a posture of pressure. The reader should watch for any sign that the administration or the senator is using the summit to consolidate authority rather than to settle disputes.
Source material: “Trump-Xi summit should make sure American strength delivers American results,” Fox News.
Get the Notebook.
The day's best stories and every fresh verdict, in plain English, in your inbox by seven. One email a day, no more.