The United States seeks to widen the technology gap with China as much as possible and thus will create more barriers for Chinese research and development. It may even try to push back some of the technological advancements China has made. China needs to prepare for greater pressure.

FBI Director Christopher Wray recently upped the ante in America’s anti-China campaign. In congressional testimony on January 31, he sounded the alarm over intensified Chinese hacking activity and warned that US infrastructure – telecommunications, energy, transportation, and water – is acutely vulnerable to the Chinese state-sponsored hacker group Volt Typhoon. Front-page coverage by the New York Times added to the sense of urgency.

Summary of concepts presented by experts at Jan. 30 seminar hosted by the Charigo Center for International Economic Cooperation (CIEC)

Since the early 1970s the United States and China have exchanged teams of agricultural scientists to explore solutions to food security issues. Agriculture has been a part of the U.S.-China Science and Technology Agreement since 1979 and over 2100 U.S. scientists traveled to China to learn more about their technology with a near equal number of Chinese scientists also participating in the exchange. Sadly, this foundational agreement expired in August 2023 and is operating on just a 6-month extension.

China’s newscasters have historically portrayed the U.S. in a negative light, but there has been a subtle shift in coverage since the Xi-Biden Summit in November. This highlights the significance of in-person dialogue and the need to continue finding areas of cooperation, as both sides recognize that the current disruption of trade and downward spiral of violence in the Mideast is not a winning scenario for either side.

The way forward for China-U.S. relations involves a cognitive shift from guardrails — which are short-term in nature and designed to prevent the escalation of conflict — to boundaries, which are principled markers meant to fundamentally change perceptions and prevent the occurrence of conflicts in the first place.

Taiwan’s new leader expressed radical views regarding independence on the campaign trail. But with the election now behind him, he seems to have softened. He should listen to public opinion and cool the hot rhetoric before his May 20 inauguration.

The United States has a long history of interference in Taiwan’s internal politics. Now that the ruling party has fewer seats than the opposition, Washington is likely to ramp up its influence on Ko Wen-je and his minority Taiwan People’s Party, which has suddenly become a crucial swing vote.

The complexity of relations between China and the United States and the polarization of U.S. domestic politics are expected to persist for the foreseeable future. In an election year, the danger is significant. The U.S. political ecosystem has the potential to send shockwaves through bilateral relations.

Charlene Barshefsky, a former top U.S. official, discusses in the interview with China-US Focus the lengthy negotiation process for China's entry into the WTO and its lasting impacts on China's economy, global integration, and U.S.-China relations, despite current challenges in trade norms and geopolitical shifts. She also emphasizes the significance of international businesses having a presence in China and the considerations they need to evaluate when determining whether to expand to the Chinese market.