Sun Tzu once wrote, “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.”

Xi Jinping has taken notice. His aim is to displace the American-led liberal international order without firing a shot. He knows that if China isn’t clever, the world will wake up to his goal — a world in which democracy, the rule of law, and individual rights are subjugated to Beijing. Like Sun Tzu, Xi wants to secure his stranglehold on the enemy before the enemy realizes what’s going on.