The office of the US President has amassed a significant amount of authority over the years, with the general understanding that power must be used responsibly.

The office of the US President has amassed a significant amount of authority over the years, with the general understanding that power must be used responsibly. The current occupant of the office seems to have little regard for the judicious use of that power. Really, nobody should be disagreeing that the rise of the PRC poses a serious threat to US interests, but wrapping everything in the boogeyman of national security and issuing legally dubious executive orders such as the one banning TikTok and WeChat give critics ammunition to claim we're not really following any sort of process here (i.e. the rule of law). "We need to do something about the PRC" is not a foundation for standing up to the PRC. Praising actions like the current fiasco with TikTok feels like praising a doctor who assaulted 15 people in the ER, vomited on the floor, punched a nurse in the face, but properly stitched up someone who had gotten their lip busted before leaving their shift. Nothing that has been done really sets up a plan for dealing with China even in the immediate future. The sudden forced closure of the Houston consulate lacks public context for the rapid escalation in hostilities and the same goes for the ban on Huawei. I have no doubt that there is something suspicious going on, but it is difficult to see a cohesive vision in all of these thrusts against the PRC and that is terrifying.