What is portrayed as a US trade war increasingly appears as part of a full-blown arsenal to retard and degrade China's emerging challenge to America's global dominance. This sharp turn in US-China relations is supported by recent strategic think-tank research, bipartisan consensus, and growing public anti-China sentiments. Click here
There are many elements in driving this about-turn, not limited to President Trump's "America First" strategy, and China's perceived economic predatory practices. All in all, it's nothing less than what Thomas Wright depicts in his 2017 book All Measures Short of War: The Contest for the Twenty-First Century and the Future of American Power Click here
Under Trump, the gloves are off, brandishing raw, maximalist coercion on China's bilateral trade, technological engagements, direct investments, market access and even admission of Chinese students in the United States. A common thread is push-back against China's rivalry in leading technologies likely to define dominance in the 21st century. Trump's focus on Beijing's "Made in China 2025" strategy is instructive. Click here
Despite quantum leaps in technological and innovation capacity Click here, China, and the rest of the world, remains captive to America's stranglehold in core semiconductor and wafer fab technologies. These are imbedded in the heart of a milliard high-tech products, including computers and i-phones. Click here.
According to a Reuters report, China imported $227 billion worth of integrated circuits in 2016, more than its imports of crude oil, iron ore and primary plastics combined. Dependence on US semiconductor technologies of Chinese giant IT conglomerates is embarrassing, as exemplified by ZTE's near-death by US technology sanctions. Xiaomi and even Huawei are not immune.
While the current US trade and technology war is a wake-up call that is bound to spur China on to advance its own core technologies, it is by no means certain that China may be able to dominate in power-wielding technologies in the 21st century, such as artificial intelligence and biotechnology. Click here
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