Ron DeSantis

During a recent trip to Japan, South Korea, Israel and Britain, Mr DeSantis portrayed China as being locked in a new Cold War with the West and pushed for action to counter Beijing’s rise.

“Our economy is dependent on China and it’s given them more leverage and more power as a result. So we do need to assert our economic sovereignty. Part of that is bringing supply chains home and getting more stuff here as we build up our military which you know, I know this president won’t do, but we need to do,” he said.

In May, he signed three bills to “counteract the influence of the Chinese Communist Party in the state of Florida”.

The bill bans Chinese citizens from buying land in the state unless they are also American citizens or permanent residents, as well as restricting those using government devices and servers from downloading applications including the Chinese-owned TikTok.

Donald Trump

Mr Trump is credited with shifting the American political consensus toward confronting China and has promised to continue opposing Beijing if he returns to the White House.

He is calling for the removal of China’s most-favoured-nation trade status, as well as the phasing out of all Chinese imports of pharmaceuticals, electronics, steel and other essential goods over four years.