TikTok Saga Shows Americans Won’t Take On China: Hal Brands

America’s TikTok saga — the drama over whether the popular video-sharing app will be banned or saved — has many intriguing dimensions. It involves questions about free speech, privacy and the reach of presidential power. Yet the fate of TikTok is most important because it reveals a glaring weakness of America’s China policy — the fact that the US is trying to wage a cold war without inconveniencing itself.

Competition with China is one of the few areas of real bipartisan agreement in Washington. The last two presidential administrations treated Beijing as America’s foremost geopolitical rival. Anti-China measures are ...