The New Cold War: America’s new approach to Sino-American relations

Abstract

The Trump administration started a New Cold War against China. Instead of a country that can be engaged, China now is America’s primary rival in terms of ideology, geopolitics, and technology. Three factors motivated this shift: the U.S. assessment that China did not converge to the American system, China had become more assertive about its own political model, and China’s increasing ability to challenge American technological supremacy. The Biden administration will probably soften U.S. trade policy, but will continue to see China as an ideological, geopolitical, and technological rival.