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 President announced a range of significant penalties, noting the “plain facts [of what China did] cannot be overlooked or swept aside.”

President Trump made plain in his, “The United States wants an open and constructive relationship with China, but achieving that relationship requires us to vigorously defend our national interests.” This book explains what President Trump means by his call for a vigorous defense of our national interests vis a vis China.

The Chinese Communist Party prefers not to have the information and messages contained in this book shared. It does not want people around the world to know what the Party really believes, is doing, and is planning.

Taken together, the speeches herein are similar to U.S. diplomat George Kennan’s 1946 “Long Telegram” to the State Department that outlined his views on the Soviet Union. This book is different from the “Long Telegram” in two important respects. First, unlike Kennan’s case, written by an envoy at post, this book contains the words and policies of the President and his most senior officials. Second, given China’s population size, economic prowess, and historic global ambitions, the People’s Republic of China is a more capable competitor than the Soviet Union at its height.

Robert C. O’Brien

Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs

The White House

Washington, D.C.

October 9, 2020