Pence's little-noticed speech marked a new US realism toward China

A seismic shot across the bow, Vice President Mike Pence’s Oct. 4 speech on U.S.-China policy garnered surprisingly little coverage. But historians may well mark it as a significant turning point in great power relations. Pence’s address to the Hudson Institute heralded a dramatic shift in America’s approach to Beijing. He clearly and starkly announced that America is initiating a dramatic decoupling from a growing rival.

There’s a strong economic basis for the shift. China’s rise has been funded in large part by excessive reliance on America’s consumers. The U.S. racks up trade deficits with China that amount to hundreds of billions annually. And this massive trade debt has already cost the U.S. 3.4 million jobs since 2001.