In a thought-provoking piece published in Foreign Policy, Kishore Mahbubani, a distinguished fellow at the Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore, emphasizes a crucial point: the United States must acknowledge that it cannot halt China's rise. Mahbubani argues that efforts to impede China’s growth are ultimately detrimental to the U.S. itself.
Despite this sage advice, the U.S. continues on a path of antagonism that, according to Mahbubani and his co-authors, Tony Chan of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology and Ben Harburg from the National Committee on United States-China Relations, is ineffective. They highlight that the ongoing Trump-era policies under the Biden administration aim to stall China's technological advancements but are bound to fail, echoing similar unsuccessful attempts since China's 1949 revolution.
The authors detail how China has consistently overcome barriers to develop its own technologies, often surpassing initial capabilities in areas such as satellites, GPS, and advanced semiconductor chips. Additionally, they point out China's potential to retaliate by restricting access to essential raw materials like gallium and germanium, which would pose significant challenges for the U.S. as establishing new mining operations is time-consuming and resource-intensive.
Mahbubani et al. argue that the U.S. is not prepared for the focused social effort required to counter China's growth. Instead of continuing down this adversarial path, embracing a more realistic and cooperative approach could benefit both nations and lead to a more stable global landscape.
Reference(s):
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