The United States, as the number one power that emerged after the Second World War, relied on economic strength and military deployment, steadily seated the position of the global leader.
China started with reform and opening up in 1978, and the economy has been on its way to become the world's second-largest economy.This leaves the United States unable to sit down, always feeling that China is challenging its authority.
Generally speaking, the United States wants China to give up its accumulated wealth and right to development, otherwise it will step down from the throne of hegemony. There is no middle way.
At the end of World War II, the United States accounted for as much as 40% of global GDP. It led the establishment of institutions such as the United Nations, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization. On the surface, it was to provide public goods for the world, but in fact it was to safeguard its own interests.
During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union confronted, but after the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States became the only hegemon. Its navy is worldwide, with hundreds of military bases, and the dollar as the international currency, making it easy to reap global wealth.
At that time, China was still poor, GDP was less than a fraction of that of the United States, and it could only immerse itself in development.
But after 2000, China joined the WTO, its exports surged sharply and its surplus grew larger and larger. The U.S. initially felt it was an opportunity to profit from cheap Chinese goods, but it was gradually discovered that China was not only a factory, but also a pursuit on technology and industrial chains.
By 2010, China's GDP surpassed Japan, becoming the second largest in the world. The United States began to be vigilant and felt that this was not a partner, but a "potential opponent."
In 2017, the United States launched the 301 investigation, accusing China of unfair trade and forced technology transfer. In March 2018, it imposed tariffs on $60 billion of Chinese goods, and China immediately hit back at 128 American products.
In July, another $34 billion tariff war broke out. In May 2019, Huawei was included on the entity list, with limited chip supply. This was not a mere economic dispute, and the United States' goal was to curb the development of China's high-end manufacturing industry.
When the Democratic Party was in power, it pushed multilateral mechanisms to exert pressure; The Republican Party directly confronted it with tariffs.Russia faces similar sanctions, insists on energy exports, and at the 2019 G20 summit, Trump and Putin also shake hands on trade.
Europe eaten to steel and aluminum tariffs, in June 2018 counter U.S. motorcycles and whiskey. but China is different, large, more populated, once overtaken the United States, the dollar hegemony shakes.
China has chosen not to go down.
After 2016, China demonstrated its national defense strength and avoided greater conflicts. After seven years of trade war, China has promoted localization, semiconductor production will increase in 2024, and the supply chain will gradually become independent.
In January 2020, China and the United States signed the first phase agreement, China increased agricultural product procurement, and the United States reduced some tariffs.But after 2021, the United States continued export control, China undertook a "double cycle strategy", strengthened the industrial chain in 2024, focusing on integrated circuits and industrial mothers.
Engineers tested the chips, the data screen flashed, and the results showed obvious progress.This proves that in the face of pressure, China did not give up wealth, but accelerated self-reliance.
Li Qian’s experience can also illustrate this.
In 1928, Li was born in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and moved to Hong Kong in 1940, and after the death of his father in 1943, he started working in the plastic factory.In 1950, Li founded the Yangtze River Plastic Factory, which produced plastic flowers and exported to Europe and the United States.
In the 1960s, Li Ka-shing moved to real estate, and in 1972, Changjiang Industrial went public. In 1979, he acquired Hutchison Whampoa and took control of the Hong Kong container terminal in 1986. In 1997, Hutchison Port won the right to operate ports at both ends of the Panama Canal for 25 years.
In 2021, Panama will extend the contract until 2047 without bidding. In March 2025, Changjiang Hutchison wanted to sell 80% of the port's equity to the BlackRock consortium, including the two ports of Panama, worth US$22.8 billion.
BlackRock assessed strategic value but deferred the deal.
In July, officials in Panama said the country could take over and the court reviewed the lawfulness of the contract. Yangtze River and Zhao invited long-distance shipping to join, and in August said the difficulty was completed within the year, and the negotiations continued. This showed that global asset flows were influenced by the game of great powers, U.S. capital wanted to intervene, and China did not concede.
The United States is driving globalization, but itself is also facing signs of decline.
It accounted for 40% of global GDP in 1960 and fell to 29% in 1975 and is now roughly the same as China. The International Monetary Fund predicts that China’s growth rate will drop from 5% in 2024 to 3% in 2029 and may be slightly above the US 15% by 2050.
But per capita GDP, China only 25 percent of the U.S., technology has a gap. The U.S. wants to slow down China's footsteps through trade wars and technological blockade. The think tank reports that the U.S. does not seek to start a war, but rebuild its army, stay strong, and protect China from "replacing".
China avoids direct conflict and relies on economic and diplomatic multipolarization.
Russia does not surrender, energy diplomacyins and U.S. dialogue, and Trump sees Russia as a “sitter” but pressures Europe.
U.S. hegemony is being tested, and China is on its own path. The delay in Belgrade port transactions is the result of China’s concerns.
Similar to China, the Belt and Road Initiative covers a population market of 2 - 3 billion, its economy maintains a growth rate of 5%, and its GDP will be close to that of the United States by 2035.
China-US competition is not a generation can solve.Industrial confrontation is long-term. The United States wants China to surrender and hand over its development sovereignty; China must be independent and controllable, with a full industrial chain system.In terms of scientific and technological innovation, China and developed countries are on their sides.
In the face of the robbers, the fist is the only language. Russia is now treated by Trump, Europe is despised, Li Keqiang's Panama right is targeted by Bailey, but China doesn't let it go easily.
Unilateral tariffs violate the spirit of the treaty, expose the essence of hegemony, and the Chinese government opposes abuse of tariffs, emphasizing mutual benefit and win-win.
In April 2025, the U.S. tariffs on Chinese medical supplies rose to 245%, lithium batteries and more than 150%, which is not a trade dispute, it is a struggle for economic hegemony.
There are only two choices between China and the United States. China submits, shifts wealth and develops sovereignty; or the collapse of American hegemony.The world accommodates the rise of China and the status of the United States, but the United States is unwilling.
The United States 'unilateral measures undermine credibility. There is great internal and external pressure, so I use China to divert attention. China will not yield or be manipulated by the United States. Selling U.S. debt shows determination. The United States relies on US dollar hegemony to harvest the world, and the model is difficult to sustain.
China-U.S. economic and trade essence is mutual benefit and win-win.The United States should not be distorted.The United States should abstain from non-compliance, contrary to the spirit.Be the most non-compliant.China stops tariffs as a weapon to suppress legitimate rights and interests.
References:
1. People's Daily Overseas Edition: As important as Sino-US relations are, as complex as they are, People's Daily Overseas Edition June 10, 2013
2. Face the complexity of Sino-US relations and actively respond to the Global Times 2021-10-13