As Joe addresses the nation, CHRISTIAN WHITON asks, how are we to win new 'Cold ... trends now

Christian Whiton was a senior advisor for strategic communications in the Trump State Department and an advisor to the Trump presidential transition team

Less than a week before Communist China floated a spy balloon over the United States, a four-star Air Force general warned his officers that America may be at war with Beijing in two years.

'I hope I am wrong,' read General Mike Minihan's memo, dated February 1. 'My gut tells me we will fight in 2025.'

According to Minihan, a Chinese attack on nearby Taiwan would necessitate American intervention. And he wanted his airmen to be ready when the bullets start flying.

On February 3, CIA Director William Burns revealed Chinese President Xi Jinping has instructed the 'People's Liberation Army to be ready by 2027 to conduct a successful invasion' of Taiwan.

It's unclear that it indicates a clear Chinese determination to attack. But it's hardly the behavior of a peaceful neighbor.

And last week, days ahead of Biden's second State of the Union address, the surveillance balloon marked another turning point – when China's malign intentions became frighteningly obvious to millions of Americans.

In the past, U.S. officials have been hesitant to recognize that we are in a new Cold War. The Chinese government loves to condemn hawkish Americans for having a 'Cold War mindset.'

But it's an opinion shared widely on Capitol Hill – that between creeping surveillance inside America and threatening actions on the world stage – Washington DC and Beijing are headed for greater conflict.

If Biden wants his State of the Union address to mean anything, he should begin by laying out a strategy to counter China – and that starts with shoring up America's incredible vulnerabilities by ending our suicidal reliance on this dangerous regime.

Chinese imports peaked in 2018 at $539billion, with Americans purchasing $418billion more goods from the Chinese than they buy from their own country.

In 2018, tariffs enacted by the Trump administration narrowed the trade gap. And the trade deficit dropped from $418billion to $308billion in 2020. But then, amid the pandemic, the deficit rebounded to $359billion in 2022.

For years America has relied on Chinese producers for our manufactured goods, but many are particularly critical life necessities.

A terrifying percentage of America's active pharmaceutical ingredients are made in China, according to Republican Senator Tom Cotton. That includes 95% of imports of ibuprofen, 70% of acetaminophen and up to 45% of the imported penicillin supply.

What would happen if China simply turned that supply off? They could.

A bill to address this glaring weakness in a vital US supply chain sits dormant in Congress. The 'Protecting our Pharmaceutical Supply Chain from China Act' was introduced just last year. There has been no official action on it since March.

America and the free world have also stood by while China dominates the mining and processing of 'rare earth' minerals, which are essential to the manufacturing of advanced commercial and military technology.

Today, China operates more than 60% of the world's rare earth mining and more than 90% of rare earth magnet production – a critical item in war-fighting equipment from missiles to radars.

In a prolonged conflict, America could find itself fighting with one-arm tied behind its back as essential components face shortages.

Taiwan, the object of China's short-term expansion strategy, produces most of the

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