A string of new developments highlights the increasingly strained nature of China’s relationships with advanced economies around the world. First, U.S. General Michael Minihan sent a memo to his underlings with the startling claim that he believes China and the United States “will fight in 2025,” according to an NBC News report. On that same day, Friday January 27th, 2023, The New York Times revealed that the Netherlands and Japan agreed to join the United States in beginning to decouple its semiconductor sector from China. And finally, U.S. House Representative Michael McCaul (R-TX) echoed General Minihan’s sentiments on Fox News Sunday.
The economic agreement between the Dutch, Japanese, and the Americans – which is still officially a secret – is the latest in a slow, but deliberate effort from the U.S. and its allies to wean their industries off China and to limit technology transfers to the behemoth of East Asia. The Biden Administration picked up the baton from President Trump, who elevated the Sino-American relationship from one of competition to a rivalrous one, with the specter of conflict at its heart.
The Minihan memo and the leaked tripartite agreement serve as a reminder of the growing alignment of interests against China. Domestic and international pressures are driving an emergent consensus about the threat the People’s Republic poses, not merely to corporate profits, but to the peace and sovereignty of whole nations.
China’s ever-increasing reach is even incentivizing American politicians from rival parties to cooperate. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Mark Warner (D-VA) have become a power couple, of sorts, in keeping a focus on China, from seeking investigations into TikTok, which is ultimately owned by a P.R.C.-affiliated firm, to even sharing the same language regarding China’s national security risk.
