The world’s two largest economies have been competing for influence in the Indo-Pacific region for years. Relevant circles in Washington see the People’s Republic as the main threat to US supremacy and want the focus of US action to shift from the Atlantic to the Indo-Pacific. Conflicts are triggered, on the one hand, by the global economic and political influence that China is expanding and, on the other hand, by strategic friction points in the South China and East China Seas.
The Chinese “New Silk Road” project, also known as One Belt, One Road, is particularly emblematic of the first, with which China systematically places infrastructures and economies under its influence, especially in Asia, Europe and Africa, but also in the Central region. and South America. The price of China’s huge, but often only selective, infrastructure projects for the region’s often very poor countries is a huge debt spiral and the sale of strategically important objects, routes and natural resources. to the Chinese. With regard to the war in Ukraine, Beijing follows a policy of equidistance, without agreeing to Western economic sanctions against Russia, which the US interprets as support for Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.
China’s weapons and demonstration of power worry the US
The US is currently particularly concerned about China’s weaponry and shows of force off its east coast. The best-known example of this is the Taiwan conflict. On the one hand, the democratically governed Republic of China on the island of Taiwan is officially seen as part of China by the vast majority of the international community, including the US. On the other hand, Washington acts as a protective force for the democratic leadership in Taipei, while at the same time not committing to a specific course of action in the event of a possible Chinese attack on Taiwan. Beijing, on the other hand, demands that Washington adhere to the official one-China policy and not “interfere in China’s internal affairs.”
Extensive military presence established
The US has built an extensive military presence on the islands bordering the South and East China Seas to the south and east – the so-called “First Island Chain” – over the past few decades. China fears that the US could use this presence to intervene militarily in Taiwan or to block China’s access to the open Pacific. Taiwan’s role as a key point between the South China and East China Seas is also extremely sensitive because the island produces most of the most modern and powerful computer chips for the world market.
Zone of mutual neighborhood disputes
Furthermore, there is a zone of mutual neighborly disputes between neighboring states in the South China Sea. The area has central strategic importance as the main route for international maritime trade between Europe and the Middle East, on the one hand, and the countries of East Asia, which are extremely important for the global supply of industrial products. Furthermore, it is likely that there are still untapped mineral resources, including crude oil and natural gas, beneath the seabed. At the same time, there are overlapping territorial claims in the region between Beijing and its immediate neighbors. In recent years, this has repeatedly led to mutual displays of power, especially between China and the Philippines.
China is building artificial islands
Beijing particularly caused a stir in the region with the “nine-dash line” on a map presented to the UN in 2009. At the time, an attached note verbale affirmed “China’s indisputable sovereignty over the islands of the South China Sea and neighboring waters”. The Permanent Court of Arbitration (TPA) in The Hague ruled in 2016 that China could not have exclusive sovereignty over the waters in question, but the People’s Republic did not accept the decision. Instead, Beijing is massively expanding artificial islands with airports and other facilities, some of them military, on the controversial Spratly and Paracelsus Islands in the South China Sea. Even in these cases, Beijing demands that Washington not interfere “in territorial conflicts between neighboring states”.
China’s global economic influence and consciousness of international power, in turn, worry the US. The appearance of several balloons from China over North America in February 2023, which were shot down as spy balloons, made it clear that Chinese devices can now even penetrate US airspace without being noticed.
Another level of conflict: business relationships
Another level of conflict arises in business relationships. Former US President Donald Trump, who used very harsh rhetoric towards Beijing, unleashed a real trade war against China with punitive tariffs. Biden is more reserved in his words and less interested in accentuating conflicts, as demonstrated by the meeting now planned and already prepared by several US ministerial visits to Beijing on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. But when it comes to this issue, tensions will not be easily resolved, even with polite rhetoric.
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