Why US right-wing Project 2025 could be bad news for Beijing: ‘China is a threat’

Heritage Foundation document sets out political road map for a Trump-led government, including a plan on ‘how we can take on China’

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China needs to be prepared for the worst in terms of the US presidential election, as worries circulate over the contents of a Republican-led policy blueprint. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 10:00pm, 29 Jul 2024Updated: 3:17pm, 25 Sep 2024

As the US presidential race hots up, China needs to “prepare for the worst”, experts have warned, suggesting that should the Republicans win, they might put the right-wing Project 2025 into practice.

They also warn that Beijing will need to keep a cool head to avoid escalating bilateral hostilities, with the Project 2025 plan coming across as “shockingly malicious” against China.

Spearheaded by Washington-based conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, Project 2025 proposes a radical political blueprint for a potential Republican government to follow, drawn up after consultation with more than 100 conservative groups.

Republican candidate Donald Trump has denied any knowledge of the detailed plan, but it has become an election talking point.

US Vice-President Kamala Harris linked it directly to her Republican rival during her first campaign rally as the presumptive Democratic nominee on Tuesday, as she vowed to “defeat Donald Trump and his extreme Project 2025 agenda”.

Much of the controversy in the United States surrounding the plan has centred on the domestic policy recommendations in its nearly 900-page doorstopper manifesto titled, Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise, which envisions a massive reshaping of the federal government “to abolish the Deep State”.

However, another high priority in the blueprint document – “How we can take on China” – strikes a hostile, hawkish tone towards Beijing.