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Gordon Chang’s blunt message on Newsmax is exactly the wake-up call Americans need: the Chinese economy is under real strain, and much of it is the predictable consequence of a decades-long policy of tolerating Beijing’s abuses until a president finally pushed back. Chang laid out how targeted American pressure — tariffs, restrictions, and firm trade demands — has forced uncomfortable adjustments inside China that expose Beijing’s vulnerabilities.
You don’t have to take pundits at their word to see the facts: China’s growth has decelerated, domestic demand is weak, and the long-running property slump continues to sap confidence across the economy. Independent reporting shows China’s Q4 growth slowed to multi-year lows as consumption and investment faltered, underscoring that Xi’s model is not immune to sustained pressure from the United States.
That slowdown proves a point conservatives have made for years — strength and leverage work. Since President Trump began enforcing real consequences for unfair trade and theft of intellectual property, China has been pushed to rebalance and, in places, to hoard or reroute critical supplies, which has itself created economic headaches for the regime. The hard truth is that freedom-loving nations that refuse to be naive about Beijing’s ambitions can translate American leverage into results.
Victoria Coates and other conservative national-security thinkers have rightly argued that the same logic applies to Iran: impose costs, deny revenue, and force adversaries to the negotiating table or to internal reckoning. Newsmax guests have described how a credible, sustained squeeze on Iran’s finances and China’s abusive trade practices combines pressure and prudence to protect American interests and allies. If our goal is peace through strength, economic tools are as decisive as military ones when used intelligently.
Policymakers should take these warnings seriously and move beyond empty talk: tougher tariffs where needed, stronger export controls on dual-use technologies, and coordinated actions with allies to choke off Beijing’s and Tehran’s ability to fund aggression. Conservative policy must be unapologetically strategic — use every peaceful lever of power to defend American workers, our industrial base, and the rule of law on global trade. The era of pretending that engagement without consequences creates goodwill is over; it was a recipe for betrayal.
This is not about cheap xenophobia; it’s about common-sense patriotism. When experts like Gordon Chang lay out the mechanics of China’s weakness under pressure, and when seasoned hands like Victoria Coates map out the steps to increase pressure on Iran, conservatives should flood the halls of power demanding action, not apologies. The American people deserve leaders who will defend jobs, secure supply chains, and make tyrants pay for aggression.
Hardworking Americans know we will never win by being timid. Stand up for policies that protect our sovereignty, our prosperity, and our values — support smart, relentless economic pressure on regimes that threaten liberty. If Washington finally wields the full weight of American power in the economic realm, the results will be not only safer, but fairer for the American family trying to get ahead.
