That’s the claim of Michael Singh, Washington Institute for Near East Policy‘s Glazer Program on Great Power Competition and the Middle East Director, in his Sunday Wall Street Journal op-ed.

I disagree, beginning with his subheadline:

China doesn’t aspire to lead the world, much less to establish peace, but only to undermine the US.

Only that last is accurate. The PRC most assuredly does intend to “lead the world,” and to do so by overriding and replacing us. Xi has said as much regarding replacing us in other venues.

Singh added this near the end of his piece:

A China that aimed to replace the US-led international order with one of its own devising might see….

No, those “opportunities” are irrelevant by being too soon and too far away to be moves by the PRC just yet. The PRC is focused on the South China Sea and its coming invasion of the Republic of China. Succeed there, as it’s already doing in the Sea, thereby driving the US out of the Western Pacific and taking control of the sea lines of commerce on which Japan and Korea depend for their very independence, and on which we so heavily depend, with 40% of our international economic activity coming through those lanes to our West Coast, and our nation loses credibility globally.

At that point, it’ll be time to move in on the ME and Africa, and then a meek Europe.

With each success, the PRC will be able to further isolate us and to exert increasing pressure on our foreign policy, potentiating our retreat from the world.