Commentary In his new book, “The China Nightmare: The Grand Ambitions of a Decaying State,” scholar Daniel Blumenthal makes a telling point about the Chinese dictatorship’s operational and strategic decisions: “China is not just driven by its own assessment of its strengths and weaknesses; it carefully calculates Washington’s power and will before acting.” Blumenthal specifically addressed Chinese diplomacy under former President Hu Jintao, current President Xi Jinping’s predecessor. However, his point applies to China’s communist leaders since the mid-1980s and arguably since 1972, when then-President Richard Nixon met Mao Zedong. Understand that Blumenthal sees communist China as a very vulnerable political entity. I tend to agree, at least as long as a self-assured and militarily adept United States has the will to oppose China’s dictators and provide classic, inspiring, pro-individual freedom U.S. leadership. (Unashamed plug: See the China chapter of my book “Cocktails From Hell.”) Appropriate Shakespeare allusion: Inspirational American …