To cook a frog in a pot of water, increase the temperature slowly. That appears to be Chinese Communist dictator Xi Jinping’ recipe as he inexorably ratchets up the temperature in his new Cold War in the Pacific. 

Xi is pursuing a 21st Century version of General MacArthur’s successful “island-hopping” campaign in World War II. Only where the U.S military was then liberating places like Guadalcanal in the Solomons, the Chinese are seeking to enslave them.

The frog-boiling intensified when the Solomons’ prime minister unilaterally agreed to the stationing of Chinese “police” in his country. Other examples include the CCP’s: aggressive confrontations with the Philippine coast guard; threats against Japanese territory; and intensifying intrusions into Taiwan’s air and sea space. 

As President Biden heads to the region next month, we must push back – while there’s still an opportunity to deter far worse. 

This is Frank Gaffney.