OPINION — On the sidelines of the latest ASEAN convention in Malaysia, Secretary of State Marco Rubio met along with his Chinese language counterpart, International Minister Wang Yi. Rubio introduced that the talks had been “optimistic and constructive,” and highlighted that probabilities have been good that Presidents Trump and Xi might meet later within the 12 months — which might be their first assembly since 2019. Notably, Presidents Trump and Xi had a prolonged cellphone name (specializing in commerce/tariff points) in June 2025, and each had invited one another for respective state visits. As President Trump offers with an more and more aggressive China, with respect to cyber-attacks, fentanyl manufacturing, commerce variations, assaults on our infrastructure, visa points for Chinese language college students, and the heightened dangers of a Chinese language invasion of Taiwan, what may show helpful for President Trump with respect to negotiations with Xi?
By now, having met Xi on quite a few events throughout his first time period, President Trump is aware of him nicely and is conscious of Xi’s intelligence, ruthlessness, resilience, rationality, and his long-term objective, to unify China and Taiwan, and to attain the ‘Chinese language Dream of Rejuvenation,’ making China essentially the most highly effective nation on the planet by 2049. Whereas President Trump and his nationwide safety staff have tended to give attention to essentially the most salient geopolitical points in Asia and on the planet akin to commerce/tariffs, Taiwan, the militarization of the South China Sea, Ukraine, North Korea, and fentanyl, essentially the most pressing and potent points contain mental property and the applied sciences of the longer term, significantly AI.
Why AI? It’s easy: As Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has beforehand mentioned, whoever controls AI will management the twenty first century. And, clearly, Xi and the Chinese language elites and tech industries know that too, which is why China is forging forward in its analysis, financial espionage, mental property theft, data acquisition, and switch of AI know-how.
What is usually misplaced on this dialogue is that it’s a lot greater than mere technical points relating to Huawei, Tik Tok, TSMC, and different cutting-edge applied sciences. Xi is aware of this, and so ought to we. He is aware of that to attain his Chinese language Dream, controlling Taiwan and its chip-making business TSMC just isn’t sufficient. To realize true primacy, China should management the entire applied sciences of the twenty first Century.
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Even the Vatican has weighed in on this. Pope Leo IV has additionally spoken forthrightly in regards to the dangers of AI, and the necessity for all of us to make sure that such know-how is used for the widespread good, “based mostly on the dignity and elementary freedoms of the human individual.” In different phrases, China too must be clear and open of their AI endeavors and never use AI in wars or financial competitors. Putin should know, as President Trump is aware of, {that a} world by which China controls all AI would threaten democracies, the world economic system, and, maybe, our very humanity. Due to this fact, this can’t be allowed to occur, and on this new “Chilly Conflict” with China (and its authoritarian allies Russia, Iran, and North Korea) America, and its freedom-loving allies and companions should win.
There’s a pertinent historic reference we are able to have a look at. Over the last Chilly Conflict in opposition to the USSR, a ‘holy alliance’ between President Reagan and Pope John Paul II to advertise ‘Solidarity’ in Poland – with different [Catholic] senior officers akin to nationwide safety advisor William Clark, Secretary of State Alexander Haig, CIA Director William Casey, LTG Vernon Walters, Vatican Secretary of State Agostino Casaroli, and Vatican envoy Luigi Poggi – which helped result in the eventual downfall of the Soviet Union.
Presidents Putin and Xi each know their historical past and are certainly cognizant of the above historic circumstances. Conscious that American-born Pope Leo IV met with Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio (each are Catholic) shortly after his election, Putin and Xi are proper to be involved. And final month, Pope Leo IV named the primary Chinese language Bishop of his papacy, pursuant to a controversial [2018] diplomatic settlement negotiated by the late Pope Francis. And so it might seem that every one eyes at this time are on Pope Leo IV — as they need to be. President Trump can be clever to satisfy with Pope Leo IV earlier than assembly with adversary leaders akin to Presidents Putin and Xi.
President Trump and his nationwide safety staff ought to thereby borrow a web page from President Ronald Reagan’s playbook – which led to the demise of the previous USSR – and forge a brand new ‘Holy Alliance’ with Pope Leo IV and the Holy See, each to hunt peace in Ukraine and the Center East, and to additionally counter China’s aggressive rise and want to manage AI and the essential applied sciences of the twenty first Century. Our humanity is at stake.
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