U.S.-China rivalry risks 'over-securitization of almost everything,' says Chinese strategist
A Chinese strategist warns that the U.S.-China rivalry is leading to an 'over-securitization' of global affairs, drawing parallels to the geopolitical tensions of the 1930s. Despite this, he suggests the U.S. should feel confident in its technological dominance given its significant capital expenditure advantage.
Why it matters
Understanding the perspective of Chinese strategic thinkers provides insight into how Beijing views the current escalation of trade and tech restrictions between the two superpowers.
The U.S.-China rivalry has produced an “over-securitization of almost everything,” a leading Chinese strategist said Tuesday, adding that the current moment echoes the period leading up to the Second World War.
“In technological innovation, the U.S. has many opportunities and should be more confident in competing [with China],” Yu Tiejun, president of Peking University’s Institute of International and Strategic Studies, said at the Asia New Vision Forum in Singapore on Sept. 29.
Diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China warmed slightly after Chinese President Xi’s visit to Washington last week, where the two leaders inked a two-month extension to their bilateral trade truce.
The mild thaw is a welcome shift from a typically tense relationship between the world’s two largest economies. Relations between Beijing and Washington have steadily worsened over the past decade, with increasingly harsh rhetoric and growing worries that one is trying to suppress the other.
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