The U.S.-China relationship is a “cooperative rivalry,” in which the terms of competition will require equal attention to both sides of the oxymoron.
Then-Vice President Joe Biden raised his glass to Chinese President Xi Jinping at a 2015 luncheon. Credit: U.S. Department of State
In his recent address to the U.S. Congress, President Joe Biden warned that China is deadly serious about trying to become the world’s most significant power. But Biden also declared that autocrats will not win the future; America will. If mishandled, the U.S.-China great-power competition could be dangerous. But if the United States plays it right, the rivalry with China could be healthy.
The success of Biden’s China policy depends partly on China, but also on how the U.S. changes. Maintaining America’s technological lead will be crucial, and will require investing in human capital as well as in research and development. Biden has proposed both. At the same time, the U.S. must cope with new transnational threats such as climate change and a pandemic that has killed more Americans than all the country’s wars, combined, since 1945. Tackling these challenges will require cooperation with China and others.
Biden thus faces a daunting agenda, and is treating th
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