US leaders view China as a ‘pacing threat’ − has Washington enough stamina to last the race?

U.S. muscle or Chinese strategy -- which one will prevail? Fred Lee/Getty Images

When Donald Trump meets with Xi Jinping on Oct. 30, 2025, he won’t just be chatting with any run-of-the-mill leader of a rival nation. Rather, he will be sitting down the with the chief representative of the United States’ “pacing threat.”

In the Pentagon’s lexicon, China has increasingly been presented as a “pacing challenge” or “pacing threat” − that is, a great-power rival against which a nation measures its strength, shapes its strategy and directs its resources across every domain of national power.