"There isn't much actual evidence to support the notion of China as an existential threat," said Michael Swaine, director of the East Asia program at the Quincy Institute, in a comment he wrote for Foreign Policy on Wednesday. "Washington needs to approach this issue based on the facts."

Swaine said in an argument piece published on Wednesday on Foreign Policy: "It has become a cottage industry in Washington and in parts of Europe these days to highlight all the many ways in which China threatens U.S., Western, and Asian interests."

In the most basic, literal sense, an existential threat means a threat to the physical existence of the nation through the possession of an ability and intent to exterminate the U.S. population, presumably via the use of highly lethal nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons. 

Or, "an existential threat" posits the radical erosion or ending of U.S. prosperity and freedoms through economic, political, ideational, and military pressure, thereby in essence destroying the basis for the American way of life."

However, "there isn't much actual evidence to support the notion of China as an existential threat." Swaine concluded.

Washington needs to approach issues related to China based on the facts, "not dangerous rhetoric." He said in the comment. "Unfortunately, right-sizing the challenges that China poses seems to be an impossible task for Washington."

Swaine also suggested the U.S. to develop "a much clearer and factually based overall understanding of the limited challenges, threats, and indeed opportunities China poses to the United States."