Trump’s inconsistent China policy undermines efforts to parlay the conflict into a geopolitical win.
There is a view in Washington that the U.S. operation against Iran has been a dramatic setback for China. This perspective stems from a belief that in launching Operation Epic Fury, the U.S. has not only degraded the Iranian regime but also diminished China’s standing in the region and beyond. A corollary to this argument is the idea that the U.S. has sent a message of deterrence to Beijing with this operation, and thus the war fits into a broader China strategy.
Michael Sobolik is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute and author of Countering China’s Great Game: A Strategy for American Dominance (Naval Institute Press, 2024). Follow him on X @michaelsobolik.
Grant Rumley is the Meisel Family senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where he directs the Glazer Foundation Program on Great Power Competition and the Middle East. From 2018 to 2021, he served as an adviser for Middle East Policy in the office of the secretary of defense.
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