When U.S. Racist-in-Chief Donald Trump and China’s capitalist king Xi Jinping convened for a summit, they reflected the growing competition between a decaying U.S. empire and a rising Chinese empire—a rivalry increasingly pushing the world towards world war. Only the working class can turn this kill-line setup into a winning position. For that, we need a communist revolution, a world without exploitation, profit, and borders. Join Progressive Labor Party (PLP) to turn this aspiration into a reality for future generations. 

A struggle to the death

China’s rise to a superpower status has been at least twenty-five years in the making. The Belt and Road, including the digital silk road, was an imperialist strategy to connect 150 countries and 32 international organizations across Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Latin America under China’s economic prowess (Bloomberg, 12/20/25). Xi has made clear that China intends to become a world-leading power economically, technologically, militarily, and politically (NY Times, 5/14). China was one of Trump’s targets for his “tariff regime,” and China, in retaliation, had cut off rare earths and magnets. U.S. imperialist bosses’ mouthpiece The New York Times captured the panic: “how do you deal with a country that’s trying to displace you as the world’s number one power?” It is no secret that the two imperialists have “fundamental divides” in a “battle of dominance” that “looks like a death struggle” (The Daily, 5/14).

Much of the U.S. panic stems from the realization that not only is the U.S.  facing a true rival vying for world domination, but also that the U.S. ruling class itself is fractured and divided, rendering it weaker against enemies. This is increasingly visible: a Chinese think tank’s report titled “Thank Trump” declared the president an “accelerator of American political decay” and attributed China’s growth to U.S. volatility (NY Times, 5/12).  

Trump’s transactionalist and short-term-profit mindset has undermined and further hastened U.S. decline. Clouded by inflation and war with Iran, Trump arrived at the table weakened (Washington Post, 5/16). His sycophantic attempt to stroke Xi’s ego and insist on “friendship” paled in comparison to Xi’s cold confidence. The actual “friendship” is between Russia and China, as both share an opposition to U.S. world domination. 

While Trump did not cause the U.S. empire to decline—that’s a trend since the 1970s—he sure has intensified it. Trump’s attacks on the very institutions that historically propped up the U.S.-led international world order has alienated allies and severely damaged credibility. European bosses increasingly discussed “strategic autonomy” and began preparing for a world where the U.S. could no longer be relied on as a stable empire. For its closest allies in Europe, “it’s clear that dependence on the United States comes at an impossibly high cost.” Instead of “waiting for rescue,” they are constructing a parallel trading system of  own” (Foreign Affairs, 5/15). In other words, even longtime allies are preparing for the demise of the U.S world order.

Taiwan, a linchpin of rivalry

Besides allies in Europe, another anxiety of the U.S. empire is Taiwan. “The biggest risk of this week’s summit is that Mr. Trump will trade short-term American gains, such as the exporting of more soybeans and other agricultural goods, for long-term Chinese advantages” (NY Times, 5/13). Xi warned that “could enter an ‘extremely dangerous place’ if President Trump sought to impede China as it asserted itself over Taiwan” (The Guardian, 5/14). As the first island chain, Taiwan is a strategic anchor in the South China Sea. The Taiwan Strait links the Northeast Asian economies to the rest of the world, accounting for one-fifth of the world’s maritime trade (CSIS, 6/17/25). More importantly, whoever controls Taiwan can more easily project their imperialist ambitions into the Pacific. So of course, Trump’s unpredictable remarks spread fear of “upending Washington’s longstanding support to Taiwan.” Trump represents the faction of the domestic-oriented U.S. ruling class that is unwilling to sacrifice for world war. He openly called the $25 billion of weapon sales to Taiwan as a “negotiating chip” with China, warned against Taiwanese independence, and that he is “not looking” to “travel 9,500 miles to fight a war’ in Taiwan’s defense” (The Guardian, 5/18). Here is precisely the problem for the U.S. imperialist bosses whose interest lies in world supremacy. They need a population that would be willing to go to war, which is far from reality at the moment.

Like a wounded and cornered beast lashing out, a desperate and more erratic U.S. is a danger to all. While bosses use their state power to delay or negotiate, competition, not collaboration, is primary. When competition is the fundamental basis of society, war is the final tool bosses use to decide on winners and losers. The years leading up to the past two world wars were marked by similar crises: arms buildups, economic instability, nationalism, and intensifying rivalries. Make no mistake—bosses will stab each other in the back before they surrender power. And they will sacrifice workers’ lives without hesitation. None of these bosses represent our interests; only working class power can do that.

Workers at the kill line?

In gaming, the kill line is the marking point where a player’s conditions are so poor, they can be killed in one shot. Capitalist China’s propaganda popularized “the kill line” to refer to the devastation of the working class in the U.S. This sickening inequality is not an American exceptionalism, but rather a global crisis of capitalism. China’s growth is “half what it once was. Youth unemployment is high” (NY Times, 1/13). Teetering at the precipice of ruin feels like the reality of tens of millions around the world. 
While the bosses treat it like a game, we workers and youth pay for their rivalry with our blood and labor. Whether it’s the costs of oil and electricity or beans and beef, we are the ones forced to pay for imperialist failures.

Since capitalism drives the world towards crises, then workers need an alternative rooted in its opposite. In this era of compounding catastrophes, we have two choices: cower before fascism or find your courage to fight for communism. In Progressive Labor Party, we believe ordinary people have the capacity to change the course of history through seemingly small actions. Together, we can build for communist revolution to the max! See transit workers on strike? Send solidarity! See your neighbor struggling? Build community! Hear racist propaganda? Spread CHALLENGE! Whatever you do to fight back, don’t fight alone—build it with PLP!