US vs CHINA : A Never Ending Competition
When and how did it Start?
China was established in 1949 by Chinese Communist Party leader Mao Zedong following the defeat of the nationalist government led by Chiang Kai-shek. During this period, the relationship between China and the United States grew tense, as the United States had previously supported the Nationalist Party during World War II and even advocated for the government Chiang had set up.
Since the creation of China, the United States (US) government's continued support for the communist party’s opponent has ensured that diplomatic relations between both countries have been far from convivial.
What has happened since?
In 1955, in response to the shelling of Taiwan's islands by China ( which was China’s response after Chiang deployed troops on two islands along the east coast of China’s mainland)), the US warned of a potential nuclear attack on China.
Four years later, conflict between the two nations arose once more. An uprising permeated through Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, followed by China's assertion of control over Tibet. Consequently, the United States condemned Beijing for human rights abuses in Tibet and aided in Tibetan resistance.
In 1971, China’s ping-pong team invited the US team members to China. The same year, China finally obtained a permanent Security Council seat that had been occupied by Chiang Kai-shek’s Regime of China since 1945. Throughout the rest of the decade, relations between the two nations appeared to progressively relax and balance out. In fact, in 1979, China was granted full diplomatic recognition by US President Jimmy Carter.
However, the loosely built up relations between the US and China collapsed in June 1989, the day of the Tiananmen Square Massacre; China’s military troops ended up killing hundreds of students who protested against the corruption of the Chinese government, and the American government suspended military sales to Beijing, igniting the previously extinguished flame.
US-Sino relations were shaken once again in 1999 when the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) inadvertently bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. An apology was offered, but that did not deter the thousands of protests by the Chinese.
In late 2008, China became the largest US foreign creditor, which increased the interdependence between the two nation’s economies.
Competition between China and the United States became more prevalent in 2010 when China took Japan’s place as the world’s second-largest economy.
Trade tensions between the two nations increased in February 2012, as the US trade deficit with China increased by almost $20 billion since February of 2011. In response to this change, the US claimed that China’s policies were unaligned with international trade expectations. In 2013 President Xi JinPing succeeded his predecessor, Hu Jintao, and delivered a collection of speeches concerning the modernization of China.
Six years later, the Trump administration targeted China with its new tariffs on Chinese imports, including clothes, shoes, electronics, etc. The trade war between the two nations escalated as China retaliated by implementing its own tariffs on US products. The “good feeling” between the two nations had nearly dissipated.
Impact of COVID-19 on US-China relations
In December of 2019, the first detected coronavirus outbreak occurred in Wuhan, China, striking panic and fear among the Chinese government and its citizens. Although the virus may not have actually originated in Wuhan, China, the fact that it was the first location in the world to have a publicized outbreak of the virus was enough to bring an ample amount of hate and discontent towards not only the province but also the nation.
It certainly did not help alleviate tensions between the two nations and its people that former President Donald Trump began referring to the coronavirus as the “China virus,” associating a global pandemic that detrimentally impacted the lives of people and business throughout the world solely with China.
As the pandemic continued to worsen, the two major world power’s officials began directly blaming each other for the outbreak rather than trying to cooperate with each other to prevent the spread of the virus. President Trump suggested that the US government had evidence of China developing the coronavirus in a laboratory in Wuhan, China, while Chinese officials suggested that the virus might have actually been brought by a group of American military athletes who visited the province. Rather than pointing fingers at each other, the two nations could have worked together to develop a vaccine and combat the economic depression taking hold.
During the height of the pandemic, the Chinese government broadcasted their success in containing the virus while insinuating that the nation would soon be replacing the United States as the dominant world power. Undoubtedly, this further increased tensions on the global scale, as both countries have grappled for support from other nations.
Recent Actions By the United States
China’s economic and political power has increased on a global scale in the past few years, provoking the United States to take measures to prevent the growth and dominance of its competitor.
On May 26, 2022, Biden suggested that China was “the most serious long-term challenge to the international order.” He outlined three strategies to combat this “challenge,” which involved investing in technology, domestic industry, and infrastructure as a means of suppressing and competing with China’s increasing aggression and growth.
To further display the United State’s superiority over its competitor, the nation strengthened its ties with Taiwan, a country which China did not recognize as independent. Nancy Pelosi, the US Speaker of the House, visited Taiwan in August of last year, despite the countless warnings issued by Chinese officials. In response, Beijing halted US-China climate negotiations, closed several high-level military channels, and imposed sanctions on Pelosi.
Two months later, comprehensive restrictions were imposed by the U.S. Department of Commerce on the export of modern computing equipment and chips to China.
When will this end?
In the words of the People’s Republic of China, the countries simply need to “explore the right way to get along.” As two dominant global powers, it is imperative that the nations seek a mutually beneficial compromise in order to maintain peace and order throughout the world. In the end, they both simply want to develop a prosperous, productive, and thriving nation. If the countries can figure out how to do that together, they may just succeed.
Eve Yang is a junior at PESH (Plano East Senior High School), enrolled in the IB program (International Baccalaureate). She enjoys learning about current events occurring internationally and writing about topics that impact people around the world. She also enjoys learning languages which allows her to better communicate ideas and thoughts with others while discovering unique cultures, beliefs, and ideologies.