US-China tech war: Washington intensifies pressure on Beijing in proposed new policy of ‘strategic competition’
- The Strategic Competition Act of 2021 sharpens the US government’s focus on thwarting China’s economic and hi-tech ambitions
- Analysts see the legislation offering no surprises for China, as more domestic hi-tech entities are hit by US trade sanctions
The US Senate’s new legislation, the Strategic Competition Act of 2021, lays out a wide-ranging strategy for the first time to contain China’s global expansion, providing a significant milestone as the relationship between the two economic and hi-tech superpowers deteriorate.
“The legislation will have a profound effect on every Chinese technology firm,” said Cameron Johnson, an adjunct faculty instructor at New York University and a partner at Shanghai-based Tidal Wave Solutions.
“This includes in terms of developing new technologies, global investment strategies, selling into US-allied countries, receiving support from the Chinese government, and how the country’s technology market interacts and influences global governance and standards-setting.”
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SCMP Explains: China’s five-year plans that map out the government priorities for development
China, according to the bill, “is close to its goal of becoming the global leader in science and technology”. It indicated that China’s drive to become a “manufacturing and technological superpower” and to promote “innovation with Chinese characteristics” has come at the expense of human rights and long-standing international rules of economic competition.
