I wrote the small booklet A Century-Long Contest out of a deep sense of what the past hundred years have suffered under the disasters of communism. In reality, every single one of these events is connected to the United States. My original title was Lessons of Anti-Communism, hoping that America would draw painful lessons from it and eradicate the communist threats of China and Russia that still persist today.

It is worth mentioning that Mr. Luo Weinian of the publishing house wrote two chapters on my behalf: “The Lend-Lease Act: The Soviet Communist Party Revived” and “George Kennan: America’s Spiritual Figure of Anti-Communism.” I asked him to be listed as a co-author, but he modestly declined. These two chapters are extremely important.

As early as 1902, President Theodore Roosevelt instructed sixteen of the most advanced warships to sail around the world for more than a year, displaying American strength and deterring other nations from reckless action. From that moment on, the resolution of global affairs could no longer be separated from American leadership. Both World War I and World War II were decided by U.S. participation. After the founding of the Soviet Union and before 1934, President Wilson imposed restrictions, intervened militarily, and refused to recognize the communist regime, limiting Stalin’s influence on the world. But Franklin D. Roosevelt indulged in wishful thinking and chose to recognize the Soviet Communist Party, keeping it as a reserve ally against Hitler. When World War II broke out, former President Hoover publicly warned Roosevelt that “allying with Stalin is like going to bed with a criminal— even if it succeeds, it will still be a tragedy.” Before becoming president, Hoover had run a company in Russia that was confiscated by the Soviet communists; he had personally tasted the nature of communism. Roosevelt ignored him and pressed ahead. The result of World War II was indeed a great tragedy: Eastern Europe was entirely communized, Stalin used American military aid to support Mao Zedong in fighting Chiang Kai-shek, and Truman fantasized about cooperation between the Nationalists and Communists in a two-party system like that of the United States. He forced Chiang Kai-shek into a four-month ceasefire, allowing Mao to recover, seize Manchuria, and rout Chiang’s forces. In less than three years, all of China fell into communist hands.

Truman feared a Third World War. Stalin betrayed the wartime alliance and in 1947 blockaded Berlin in an attempt to force out U.S. troops. Truman, afraid of triggering World War III, ignored the advice of the U.S. artillery commander and dared not use artillery to break the blockade, relying instead on an airlift. In fact, Stalin was even more afraid of a third world war. He was merely testing Truman’s courage. That test exposed Truman as timid, leading Stalin to approve Kim Il-sung’s attack in the Korean War. Unexpectedly, General MacArthur fought fiercely and was on the verge of advancing to the Yalu River. Stalin then became even more fearful of a world war and had already prepared planes to take Kim Il-sung to Moscow in exile, abandoning North Korea. But Mao Zedong, eager to make a name for himself and display power within the communist camp, defied Stalin and insisted on sending troops. MacArthur’s Inchon landing split the communist forces in two, inflicting heavy losses. Just as Mao’s army faced crushing defeat, Truman, again fearing world war, abruptly removed MacArthur as supreme commander and recalled him to the United States. Millions lined the streets of New York to welcome MacArthur, a public rebuke to Truman.

Had Truman not dismissed MacArthur, MacArthur would have crossed the Yalu River, pursued Mao’s forces relentlessly, and forced Mao Zedong to surrender. As with Japan’s surrender, if Mao refused, Beijing itself might well have been attacked until capitulation. Yet Truman’s timidity even prevented Chiang Kai-shek from sending troops to fight in Korea, fearing it would anger Mao, thus depriving Chiang of the chance to counterattack the mainland and retake Beijing.

Truman’s misjudgment allowed Kim Il-sung to survive, pass power to his son Kim Jong-il, and then to his grandson Kim Jong-un, who continues to fire missiles to flaunt power and threaten the security of South Korea and Japan.

Mao Zedong escaped MacArthur’s blow and later launched the Cultural Revolution, falling into internal strife with Lin Biao. When Mao lay ill and incapacitated, Nixon came to his rescue, offering the great gift of restoring China’s seat on the UN Security Council and expelling Chiang Kai-shek without any conditions— a prize falling from the sky. After Mao’s death, the nation applauded. In the 1980s, a meeting of 6,000 cadres in Beijing criticized Mao and called for abandoning Maoism, but Deng Xiaoping crushed them with the cudgel of the “Four Cardinal Principles.” President Carter looked on without reaction or comment. A chance to end Mao’s legacy was lost. In 1989, during the million-strong democracy movement in Tiananmen Square, President Bush again stood by, offering no support, instead sending envoys to plead with Deng Xiaoping not to harm Sino-U.S. relations. Another opportunity to abandon communism and embrace democracy was lost.

In the 1990s, President Clinton granted China permanent Most-Favored-Nation status, fattening Jiang Zemin without bringing freedom or democracy; peaceful evolution failed. In 2011, Hu Jintao attempted to revive Confucius by erecting a 9-ton, 9.5-meter-tall statue in Tiananmen Square. Three months later, it was forcibly removed by the “paramount leader” Jiang Zemin and has remained in cold storage in a museum ever since. President George W. Bush showed no response at all to Hu Jintao’s effort to revive Confucius and abandon Mao.

In 2020, Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo exposed the Xi Jinping regime step by step, creating the momentum of a possible regime change. But after Biden took office in 2021, his administration initially made a great show of investigating Xi’s responsibility for spreading the pandemic, only to reverse course in August, citing “insufficient evidence,” lowering its profile and instead holding high-level video summits with Xi, steadily improving relations and abandoning pursuit. In 2022, Xi sought lifelong dictatorship, breaking the convention of stepping down after ten years. Opposition was widespread within China, yet Biden made no statement, allowing Xi to secure another term and continue communist autocracy. In fact, had Biden simply voiced opposition to Xi’s reappointment, anti-Xi forces would have gained enormous encouragement and momentum to force him out. Later, during the White Paper Movement, U.S. officials expressed support, which frightened Xi into rapidly reversing course and abandoning his long-insisted “zero-COVID” policy.

If the anti-Xi reformist faction had received Biden’s support in 2022, Xi might well have been removed. Sadly, Biden once again missed an opportunity to end communist dictatorship.

Looking ahead, Biden seeks re-election and may well succeed. But he is likely to continue a moderate policy toward Xi, making it unrealistic to expect Xi’s fall during Biden’s term. It may have to wait until the 2028 election, when a Republican victory and the rise of hardliners such as Pence or Pompeo could finally bring about Xi’s downfall and allow Confucian civilization to be revived.

Succeeded because of America, failed because of America. Over the past century, the rise and fall of nations across the world have been inseparable from America’s powerful military and economic influence. One can only hope that America will learn its lessons and become wiser.