China vs. the U.S.: The New Cold War?

China and the United States have been holding disputes over international trade, technology,Taiwan, and military power since 1949. The trade war started for numerous reasons, one being that China exported more goods than it imported from the US which frustrated the US because they were taking advantage of the trade agreement. China also limited foreign companies from entering their market which seemed unfair to the US because they’re limiting opportunities for the US. The US also believes that China was involved in Intellectual Property Theft. In 2017, the costs of theft the US had to pay were between $225 billion and $600 billion annually. This is done by China demanding US companies to share their IP in exchange for their market and once access is gained, China duplicates the technology and uses the information to replicate a product and mass sell at a much lower cost without giving credit where credit is due. They also have increased competition in claiming dominance in the technology market in things such as 5G, artificial intelligence (AI), and quantum computing. This raises security concerns in the US that were present in the past. Huawei, a China-owned phone company that expanded in the US, people were certain that these phones were more prone to getting hacked by China. The cyber security for the Huawei phones wasn’t strong and were banned from the US. China has been pressuring Taiwan to join China for years. They’ve been pressuring them by reducing trade with Taiwan, increasing their cyber attacks towards them and attempting to make them politically more vulnerable. On the contrary, the US has been helping Taiwan with their military power, technology and navigation system. The United States is dedicated to supporting Tawan but also to challenging China. Both countries have also increased their military power in the Indo-Pacific region because it plays a huge role when it comes to trading and technology which makes it important for the US and China as well as increases the competition between the two countries. They have also been fighting over global supply chains, infrastructure investment and their currency. For a long time, China has been accused of manipulating its currency to gain the advantage of trade power. China does that by minimizing the flow of its currency, the yuan, to stay within the boundaries of the country. Which prevents the rise of the currency. This also reduces inflation in China. It's believed that to start a cold war, more needs to happen but it seems like both countries are on the track to making that happen. In conclusion, Are we witnessing a new Cold War, or is this a different kind of global rivalry?

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References:

https://www.facebook.com/Reporterssansfrontieres. (2016). Why journalists should stay away

from Huawei devices | RSF Resource for Journalists’ Safety. RSF Resource for

Journalists’ Safety.

News, B. (2025, February 28). All the Ways China Could Respond to Trump’ s Ramped Up Trade War. Financialpost; Financial Post.

Siripurapu, A., & Berman, N. (2024, May 14). The Contentious U.S.-China Trade Relationship.

Council on Foreign Relations.

Stanford Law School. (2018, April 10). Intellectual Property and China: Is China Stealing

American IP? | Stanford Law School. Stanford Law School; Stanford Law School.

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Nada Ahmed is a student at Queen's University and an Outreach Coordinator for WIIS-Queen's. The opinions of this blog post are reflective of the author and are separate from the organization, Women in International Security Queen's Unviersity (WIIS-Queen's).