The virtual conference between the American President Joe Binden and the Chinese President Xi Jinping continues the attempt of American diplomacy to find common ground in global challenges and to manage the competitive relationship between China and the United States in a responsible way so that it does not turn out to be too big Bang is coming.
Winand von Petersdorff-Campen
Business correspondent in Washington.
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The American government no longer has any illusions about China. Gone is the notion that China could evolve into an open, free society thanks to the integration into world trade promoted by the United States. The view that China could limit itself to expanding its sphere of influence as “soft power” with friendly, diplomatic initiatives has also evaporated. According to Biden's foreign policy advisers, the military actions on the Indian border, the harshness in dealing with Japan and the undeclared trade war with Australia show that China is ready to present itself as an aggressive, assertive power if it serves its interests.
In contrast to the Cold War between the Western powers and the Eastern Bloc, questions of armament and the nuclear arsenals are not the focus.
According to Kurt Campbell, Asia coordinator of the National Security Council in the White House, the arms issues are important, as he recently explained at a conference.
But the real area of conflict is technology.
Race in the technology sector
"It is becoming increasingly clear to most observers that China is making a robust, government-sponsored effort to replace the United States as the world's technology leader," said Rush Doshi, China director of the White House National Security Council, at a congressional hearing. The attempt is primarily motivated by geostrategic reasons. Beijing, Doshi said, believes that competition for the best technology not only determines which company dominates a particular market, but also which country is best positioned to become the world's premier power.
From the American perspective, China now sees a historically unique opportunity to achieve global hegemony by using all means to strengthen key technologies such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology or the next generation of the Internet. Xi and his advisors are animated by the idea that the United States is past its prime. America's hesitant response to the pandemic is an indication to China that the democratic-free-market policy model is not necessarily superior. The country's political turmoil, which culminated in the storming of the Capitol, and the Black Lives Matter protests provide the Chinese leadership with further arguments for the analysis that the United States is weak. Against this background, Biden campaigns - usually in vain - for political unity,so that other countries recognize the energy of democracy.