What you meant was that you want the United States to be a threat to China.
China is regarded as a possible danger by a large slice of American voters.
National Security has sent spy-planes to check it out, and they have confirmed that China may be a danger and a menace to the United States, should the right circumstances arise. Thus China does indeed represent a threat to the US, and there are numerous papers published by the various intelligence communities that confirm this. Gathering such intelligence is vital to one's defense, in the face of said threat. What you meant was that you want the United States to be a threat to China. China is regarded as a possible danger by a large slice of American voters.