In the wake of World War II, Winston Churchill said, “There is only one thing worse than fighting with allies, and that is fighting without them.” Since then, the United States and its allies have worked together to create an economic and international system that has led to significant prosperity and has provided mankind the longest stint of relative peace from major conflicts in all recorded history. However, just as the Soviet Union threatened to disrupt the global order with its distorted ideological principles, the Chinese Communist Party seeks to do the same today but on an unprecedented scale.
The CCP's vision of the world contrasts starkly to that of the U.S. and our G-7 allies. Its authoritarian regime seeks absolute control over its citizens and wishes to expand its influence and power throughout the world. Politically, militarily, economically, and technologically, the CCP is an existential threat to the principles that undergird the world’s most successful democracies.
When confronting a nation as large as China, any measure we take alone would be ineffective at asserting appropriate levels of accountability. If we are to preserve the democratic international system for ourselves and future generations, we must address these challenges with our like-minded friends. As some world leaders continue to hesitate or downplay efforts to respond to China, it is up to the people of the free world collectively to express urgency in the matter.
That’s why I’ve been collaborating with my colleague Norbert Roettgen of the German Bundestag. A leader in European politics, Roettgen also shares concern in the foreign policy challenges posed by the CCP. Last week, after months of rallying legislators from across the G-7, we sent a letter signed by nearly 70 legislators from across the globe to our various heads of state demanding that cooperation be at the core of our international response to the CCP. Without coordination among our various countries, the authoritarian influence of the CCP will continue to affect the global order so that our way of life and the joint values of our democratically elected systems of government could be altered irreversibly.
The current disjointed approach not only sends a message of weakness for democratically aligned nations, but also isolates countries for the CCP to single out and further antagonize. Our efforts in response must be precision-based and cooperative. Focusing jointly across areas such as increasing technological standards, strengthening our international institutions, and ensuring the global protection of human rights are a few examples.
We must be clear with our intentions. Our primary objective is not to destroy China, but for the G-7 alliance to hold firm our commitment to upholding the international system and ensuring that countries such as China play by the rules they have agreed to. Ensuring that all who participate in our system abide by these standards will not only create accountability, but also safeguard the resilience of the order that has kept the world relatively safe for almost a century.
It won’t be an easy task. The challenges that China presents to us are unlike anything the free world has dealt with. Even the frequent parallels to the Cold War fail to capture the complexity associated with the great power competition of today. However, just as the Cold War required an abstract and strategic approach differing from the conflicts of years prior, we must approach this new era with the same bold and innovative strategies if we are to ensure accountability.
This letter is only the beginning of this process, but it is an important beginning. If the 21st century is going to be defined by peace and prosperity, the democracies of the world must be united and unequivocal in our commitment to our shared values.
Anthony Gonzalez represents Ohio’s 16th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives.
