China Can’t Afford Xi’s Quest for Security
The Chinese leader is betting his nation can absorb a hit to economic growth and still close the gap with the US. He’s wrong.
Security trumps trade.
Photographer: Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images
When two opponents in a fierce, zero-sum competition resort to the same playbook, it is unlikely to work equally well for both of them. This increasingly seems to be the case in the US-China rivalry. Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping have both prioritized national security in their relationship, willingly forgoing the benefits of open trade and investment.
Underlying their parallel stances is the logic of economic attrition: By taking actions certain to harm oneself but likely to hurt one’s opponent even more, both Beijing and Washington are betting that they can afford their policy more than the other can.