DENVER, COLORADO — Israel, Iran, and how he views increasingly hostile anti-Israel voices on the AmericaIn political Right were not the only issues that House Speaker Mike Johnson and I discussed in our recent sit-down interview in his gorgeous office on Capitol Hill.

We also spoke about his background, his upbringing in Louisiana, his deep personal faith in Jesus Christ, his love for the Bible, and why he’s been such an active member of the pro-life movement over the years.

I covered these in two recent columns – one on July 24 and the other on July 27.

WHAT DID THE SPEAKER SAY ABOUT CHINA, TAIWAN, AND THE THREAT OF WAR IN THE PACIFIC?

Today, I’d like to focus on the Speaker’s views on the increasingly serious threat posed by Communist China to the Democrat island of Taiwan, to American dominance in the Pacific, and to other American allies such as Japan and South Korea, to name just two.

As I gave the Speaker a copy of my latest political thriller, THE BEIJING BETRAYAL, I was deeply curious as to his assessment of how President Trump is handling the China threat, given all the other pressing matters on his plate. 

After all, Evangelical Christians – like most Americans, and many Israelis, as well – are very concerned about the military, economic, and political threat posed by Communist China. 

I certainly am. 

It turns out, the Speaker is, too.

“It is my view that China is our chief adversary,” he told me.

“They’re almost a peer to peer adversary with us, which is frightening because we haven’t had one of those since World War II,” Johnson said.

SPEAKER JOHNSON: A CHINESE INVASION OF TAIWAN ‘WOULD BE A DISASTROUS THING’

“And they’re advancing and they have a long agenda. They’ve been very steady and very aggressive.”

“While we had four years [under President Joe Biden] of just languishing as a country and decline in every metric, China was on the march, literally.“

If Beijing really moved on Taiwan, he warned, “it would be a disastrous thing.”

SPEAKER JOHNSON: CONGRESS IS TAKING ACTION TO STRENGTHEN AMERICAN DEFENSES IN ASIA

Concern is that the China threat is high and growing on Capitol Hill.

That’s why Congress is taking action, he said.  

“The threat of what we face in the Indo-Pacific is very real,” the Speaker told me.

“And in the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ that we just passed, we invested another $12 billion specifically to our military in the Indo-Pacific region for military exercises, preparation and readiness.”

Good.

But is it enough?

SPEAKER JOHNSON: WE HAVE TO BE ‘PRAYERFUL’ TO AVOID ARMED CONFLICT WITH BEIJING 

“It’s a very dangerous time for us,” Johnson said.

President Trump “wants to avoid military conflict at all costs.”

That’s why “he is trying heroically to engage and negotiate” with Chinese President XI Jinping.

Trump would like “to have a trade agreement with China” rather than war.

“But you’ve got to have willing partners. You can’t have a negotiation unless you have a reasonable, rational leader on the other side.”

Is Xi Jinping a “reasonable, rational leader?”

I’m not convinced.

Nor, it would seem, is the Speaker. 

“We’re all prayerful that this can be resolved,” he told me. “We don’t want to have an armed conflict with China.”

Amen – let’s join the Speaker in praying not just for the peace of Jerusalem but for peace in the Pacific. 

TRANSCRIPT OF CONVERSATION WITH SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON

The following is a partial transcript of the interview, lightly edited for clarity.

To watch the full interview on YouTube, please click here.

ROSENBERG: I want to shift to China – Communist China – and the threat to Taiwan. First, I want to give you a book. This is my latest political thriller….This is about Communist China getting ready, not in years or in months but in hours or days, to attack and invade the democratic island of Taiwan and to unleash a horrific bio toxin inside the United States days before the attack, to try to paralyze us.

SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: Doesn’t sound like fiction.

ROSENBERG: Well, I pray that it remains fiction – but how do you see the Communist Chinese threat to Taiwan, to U.S. interests, and Taiwan being the bulwark of our interests in the Pacific? Not the only one. But if we lose Taiwan, in my view, why should South Korea trust us? Why should Japan trust us? Why should anybody in the region, much less the world? So, you had a very important but controversial call last year with the new Taiwanese president – President Lai. Why? What’s your perspective? How should Evangelical Christians – and other Americans – see how you see Communist China, Taiwan, and the challenges in the Pacific?

SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: Well, when we say America First, we have to look after America’s interests. And it is my view that China is our chief adversary. It’s not just mine. It’s shared by all of our leaders at the Pentagon….China’s at the top of everybody’s list for all the obvious reasons.

They’re almost a peer to peer adversary with us, which is frightening because we haven’t had one of those since World War II. And they’re advancing and they have a long agenda. They’ve been very steady and very aggressive. And while we had four years [under President Joe Biden] of just languishing as a country and decline in every metric, China was on the march, literally. 

And so it’s a very dangerous time for us. I mean, in the AI race, for example, they’re trying to catch us. We’re slightly ahead. We must stay ahead in that area and in others. And the threat of what we face in the Indo-Pacific is very real. And the “One Big Beautiful Bill” that we just passed, we invested another $12 billion specifically to our military in the Indo-Pacific region for military exercises, preparation and readiness, and the like.

It’s very important, and it’s a signal that the Congress understands the necessity of maintaining the peace in that region. If they [Beijing] moved on Taiwan – and your hopefully fictitious example here – it would be a disastrous thing for the country because of [advanced micro] chips, for example. The processes that we use – and every device that we all rely upon – the vast majority of those are made in Taiwan. Of course, that’s just one example….Now, we’re trying to ensure the manufacturing of chips and everything else [including moving manufacturing of such chips back to the U.S.] and President Trump is making great strides, and Congress, as well. But there’s a lag time there. 

We have to maintain the peace. We have to hold China to their borders. This is a very important principle, since World War II, that you can’t just go take the neighboring country if you want. That’s not how this works anymore. I am heartened by our NATO alliance now committing to give 5% of their GDP [to defense spending] instead of just 2%. That’s huge. Zero chance that would have happened if Donald J. Trump was not in the Oval Office….So, all these developments are important that will help us maintain peace through strength.

We have to keep a close eye on China. The president takes it very seriously. Remember, he was one of the first people talking about the China threat back in 2015 and 2016.

ROSENBERG: He [Trump] has changed my view on Communist China. I really thought [for many years] that engagement [with Beijing] was the right way – and I hadn’t kept up with the fact that all the evidence said that engagement had not worked and China has become more aggressive.

SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: That’s right. And he [President Trump] wants to avoid military conflict at all costs. And he is trying heroically to engage and negotiate with [President] XI [Jinping] and to have a trade agreement with China that’s essential for both countries. But you’ve got to have willing partners. You can’t have a negotiation unless you have a reasonable, rational leader on the other side.

We’re all prayerful that this can be resolved. We don’t want to have an armed conflict with China. And if they move on Taiwan, it puts the whole world in a serious threat for all the reasons you noted, and I’m sure that  you’ve written about eloquently here [pointing to the book].