Secretary of State Marco Rubio took bold, necessary action on Wednesday when he announced that the Trump administration would be “aggressively” revoking visas issued to Chinese students who have “connections to the Chinese Communist Party or [are] studying in critical fields.” Future student visa applications from Chinese nationals will also face greater scrutiny. This is an important step toward reducing the industrial levels of espionage committed by Chinese nationals on U.S. soil every year.

Confronting this challenge is most important because China is likely to use massive military force in an attempt to conquer Taiwan by 2030. To bolster its chances of success, China is focused on stealing the most cutting-edge new U.S. technologies and then employing or altering them to boost its military. Beijing’s victory over Taiwan would mean its securing of political and economic hegemony over the Western Pacific and long-standing U.S. allies such as Japan, the Philippines, and South Korea. That will significantly reduce the economic potential and political freedom of America and our allies. It will also greatly advance China’s effort to secure global political hegemony by proving that Beijing, not Washington, is the ascendant global political power.