{"id":2580013,"date":"2026-03-15T10:38:02","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T14:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trumps-iran-venezuela-moves-are-putting-the-squeeze-on-china\/"},"modified":"2026-03-15T10:42:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-15T14:42:18","slug":"trumps-iran-venezuela-moves-are-putting-the-squeeze-on-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trumps-iran-venezuela-moves-are-putting-the-squeeze-on-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump&#8217;s Iran, Venezuela Moves Are Putting the Squeeze on China"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftrumps-iran-venezuela-moves-are-putting-the-squeeze-on-china%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2580013&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nbc-op-ed-compares-transgender-swimmer-lia-thomas-to-jackie-robinson\/\" title=\"NBC Op-Ed Compares Transgender Swimmer Lia Thomas to Jackie Robinson\">op-ed argues<\/a> that President Trump\u2019s moves to bring Venezuela\u2019s oil under U.S. control, wiht Iran\u2019s oil likely to follow, mark a historic shift that undermines China\u2019s long-running strategy to subvert the United States. The author contends that China\u2019s twin goals are to seize Taiwan and become the sole global superpower by 2049, and that globalization has allowed China to entangle the U.S. in dependencies for antibiotics, energy, technology hardware, and <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >rare earth minerals<\/a>. It claims China could cripple the U.S. economy by cutting exports, and cites alleged examples of sabotage in Chinese-made goods, and also Chinese influence in Wall Street, academia, and media, alongside espionage arrests.<\/p>\n<p>The piece argues China is oil- and gas-poor and has pushed electrification to reduce its petroleum needs, relying on coal, nuclear power, and renewables rather.Trump\u2019s actions, by shifting control of Venezuelan (and soon Iranian) oil away from China, are said to complicate China\u2019s plans to project power, including any <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/taiwanese-foreign-minister-warns-of-potential-war-with-communist-china\/\" title=\"Taiwanese foreign minister warns of potential war with Communist China\">potential invasion<\/a> of Taiwan. The author concludes that this could be the first real strategic gain against China in decades, noting that the views are his own and not the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>President Donald Trump&rsquo;s actions in Venezuela and Iran are the first time that any president has made any progress against China&rsquo;s decades old effort to peacefully subvert the U.S.It is no secret that China has two goals: to seize control of Taiwan and to become the lone global superpower by 2049, the centennial of the communist control over the country. China is our primary geopolitical rival, if not our mortal enemy.<\/p>\n<p>Over the past few decades, China has successfully subverted the U.S. through globalization. The U.S. now depends on China for antibiotics, energy, technology hardware and vital rare earth minerals and their processing. China could shut off exports of these and other goods, and our economy, society and security would be crippled.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, China would hurt itself by doing these things, but China is an iron-fisted totalitarian state where any social unrest would be much more easily (read brutally) addressed than in the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>But there&rsquo;s much more.<\/p>\n<p>Some parts of the Chinese goods we have imported have been sabotaged. Utility scale batteries had to be removed from the U.S. Marine Corps base at Camp Lejeune in 2024 because sabotage had been discovered. Remotely controlled &lsquo;kill switches&rsquo; have been discovered in Chinese-made electric vehicles.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadAnyclip() { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst container=document.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!container) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=\"https:\/\/player.anyclip.com\/anyclip-widget\/lre-widget\/prod\/v1\/src\/lre.js\"; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"pubname\", \"westernjournalcom\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"widgetname\", \"001w000001jULVcAAO_M12924\");  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ append inside the container so player shows in correct spot \t\t\t\t\t\tcontainer.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadAnyclip(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #anyclipvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#anyclipvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>Wall Street firms have been lured into lucrative relationships with Communist China. American universities are chock-full of researchers and students from Communist China. Chinese nationals of unknown loyalty have become U.S. citizens and even senior government employees. Some have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/archives\/opa\/pr\/harvard-university-professor-and-two-chinese-nationals-charged-three-separate-china-related\">arrested<\/a> as espionage agents by the FBI.<\/p>\n<p>China has been funding environmental groups to advocate for regulations that wreck our economy. The mainstream media is strangely pro-China and often holds up China as a model of government efficiency. I could go on, but you get the point. China has had us over a barrel for quite some time &ndash; until recently.<\/p>\n<p>But China has an Achilles heel beyond the limitations of communist planning &ndash; China is oil and gas poor.<\/p>\n<p>The life blood of the modern world is oil and gas. But China doesn&rsquo;t have enough oil and gas to project its power in the way that it would like. China has plenty of coal, and coal can be liquified into petroleum products, but that is very costly and not really practical.<\/p>\n<p>Because China is oil and gas poor, it has been frenetically trying to electrify as much of its economy as possible to reduce its demand for oil and gas. From its massive reliance on coal to increasing use of nuclear power and even some wind and solar to its production of electric cars and trucks, China has been trying to reduce its reliance on the global oil and gas market. That way, whenever it makes its geopolitical moves, it would be able to survive a potential global oil and gas embargo against it.<\/p>\n<p>But Trump has now changed all that. Venezuelan oil reserves and production, much of which supplied China, are now under U.S. control. The same will soon be true for Iranian reserves and production.<\/p>\n<p>China can electrify all it wants, but it cannot invade Taiwan or supplant the U.S. as the lone global superpower with batteries. It would need oil and gas to do all that. Trump has now made China&rsquo;s goals that much more difficult.<\/p>\n<p>For the first time since the communists seized control of China in 1949, a U.S. President is making real strategic progress against our most formidable foe. If he succeeds, it will be quite the accomplishment.<\/p>\n<p><em>Steve Milloy is a biostatistician and attorney. He posts on X at @JunkScience.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"disclaimer\">\n<p>All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/union-membership-plummets-to-record-low\/\" title=\"Union Membership Plummets to Record Low\">legitimate news publisher<\/a> that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scotus-issues-crushing-ruling-against-j6-prosecutors-vacates-judgement-of-dc-circuit-court\/\" title=\"SCOTUS Issues Crushing Ruling Against J6 Prosecutors, Vacates Judgement of DC Circuit Court\">reporter&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s a paraphrase of the main points:<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The piece argues that President Trump\u2019s moves in Venezuela and Iran represent the first real advance against China\u2019s long-running strategy to quietly weaken the United States.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; It portrays China as having two core aims: to seize Taiwan and to become the world\u2019s only superpower by 2049. China is described as the United States\u2019 main geopolitical rival, one that has leveraged globalization to make Americans dependent on Chinese supplies for antibiotics, energy, technology hardware, and rare-earth minerals. The article warns that China could cripple the U.S. economy by cutting exports, even though such actions would also hurt China itself, given its authoritarian system.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The author claims China\u2019s global influence extends beyond trade, citing examples of compromised Chinese-made goods (such as batteries removed from a U.S. military base and \u201ckill switches\u201d in EVs) and alleging outsized influence over Wall Street, universities, and some government officials. The piece also accuses parties in the U.S. media and some environmental groups of shaping policy in ways that benefit China.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; A key argument is that China is oil- and gas-poor, which constrains its power-projection ambitions. While China has pursued electrification and other energy shifts to reduce oil dependence, the article contends that it still cannot achieve its geopolitical aims without access to oil and gas.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The Trump administration\u2019s actions-bringing Venezuelan oil under U.S. control, with Iranian oil expected to follow-are framed as removing a critical energy lifeline from China. As a result, China\u2019s ability to wage its strategic goals would be hampered, even as it pushes to electrify its economy.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The piece concludes by suggesting that, for the first time since the Communist Party took power in 1949, a U.S. president is making meaningful strategic progress against a formidable foe. It attributes this to Trump\u2019s policies and notes the author\u2019s background (Steve Milloy) and the Daily Caller News Foundation\u2019s standard disclosures<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2580014,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_7049.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[4501,32404,3823,36408,50813],"class_list":["post-2580013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-china","tag-geopolitics","tag-iran","tag-us-foreign-policy","tag-venezuela-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_7049.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2580013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2580013"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2580013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2580018,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2580013\/revisions\/2580018"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2580014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2580013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2580013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2580013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}