{"id":1726,"date":"2018-07-07T19:41:08","date_gmt":"2018-07-07T19:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.blackopspartners.com\/?p=1726"},"modified":"2018-07-07T19:41:08","modified_gmt":"2018-07-07T19:41:08","slug":"the-china-u-s-power-struggle-is-just-beginning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blackopspartners.com\/the-china-u-s-power-struggle-is-just-beginning\/","title":{"rendered":"The China-U.S. Power Struggle Is Just Beginning"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chinese President Xi Jinping has an ambitious master plan for his country\u2019s transformation into a wealthy, technology-driven global economic power. And U.S. companies need not apply.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why the current trade rumble between the U.S. and China, in which the Trump administration is threatening<\/a> to slap tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese imports and Beijing promises to respond in kind, is far more than just a spat over market restrictions, intellectual property rights and the epic U.S. deficit.<\/p>\n

On a deeper level, the standoff reflects an escalating<\/a>economic and military rivalry between a status quo power and one of the most remarkable growth miracles in history. It\u2019s a clash between two divergent systems, (one state-directed, the other market-driven) with markedly divergent world views and national aspirations. That strategic tension<\/a>seems likely to intensify, regardless of how the current brinkmanship over tariffs plays out.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also a battle for global influence. Whereas the U.S. has long sought to spread democracy and free markets to other nations, China\u2019s ruling Communist Party is just starting to pitch its heavy-handed growth model as an alternative for developing nations. And Xi is backing it up with hundreds of billions<\/a> of dollars in loans for infrastructure projects from Asia to Europe and beyond.<\/p>\n

In the U.S., a bipartisan consensus has begun to emerge that now is the time to stand up to China, even if many oppose President Donald Trump\u2019s tactics. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, has attacked Trump for not being tougher on China, saying last week that failure to change Beijing\u2019s behavior now could hurt the U.S. economy \u201cfor generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

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With a roughly $13 trillion economy and expanding wealth, China is now going head-to-head with the U.S. in advanced manufacturing and digital technologies. It also has the wherewithal to make rapid technological progress in defense, particularly with air-to-air missile systems<\/a> that pose a strategic challenge in Asia for the U.S. and its allies.<\/p>\n

Xi is playing a long game, pursuing what he calls the \u201cChinese Dream,\u201d or \u201cthe great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.\u201d To get there, he has set targets to double his country\u2019s per capita gross domestic product (from 2010 levels) to $10,000 by 2021 and refashion China into a tech powerhouse, competitive in robotics, new energy-vehicles, chips, software and other bleeding-edge industries under his Made in China 2025 program. A separate development strategy envisions China ruling in artificial intelligence by 2030.<\/p>\n

The aim is to produce global champions — not just national ones — and Xi\u2019s government is ready to use the commanding heights of its one-party state to steer subsidies and use preferential policies and ambitious local content rules favoring Chinese companies to get there. At stake are industries that make up about 40 percent of China\u2019s value-added industrial manufacturing sector, according to an analysis<\/a> by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, citing data by the Rhodium Group, a research firm.<\/p>\n

Predatory Economics<\/h3>\n