China and America are locked in a new kind of cold war. This one could leave no winners
emerged from the wreckage of Maoism 40 years ago, the profit motive has become a pillar of stability in its relations with America. Presidential candidates might accuse China of stealing jobs. Spy scandals could simmer. Then corporate bosses and politicians in Beijing and Washington would decide that all sides were making too much money to let relations sour. This focus on mutual self-interest involved queasy compromises.
China’s growing tech prowess is putting new strains on globalisation, beyond old arguments about stolen jobs. The fact that General Motors sells more cars in China than in America used to help both countries manage ideological differences. Today’s supply chains, carrying semiconductors from China to devices in America, actually raise the political stakes.
In part, this is explained by the change in occupant of the Oval Office. President Barack Obama also denounced Chinese trade cheating and pressed China to stop stealing commercial secrets. Belatedly, his Pentagon chiefs grew alarmed as China turned disputed reefs in the South China Sea into military outposts. But ultimately Mr Obama put more weight on tackling global challenges, from climate change to pandemics to nuclear proliferation, for which he needed Chinese help.
Meanwhile, officials in Beijing see a sore loser of a superpower, bent on keeping them down. They scoff at the idea that rich, spoiled America really feels threatened, seeing a ploy to extract better terms for American firms to make money. This misses how many people in Washington believe that the China threat is real and matters more than profits or free-market purity.
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