Editorial,

Anyone following the United States’ recent tightening of the screw on China will be wondering whether “America is back” or whether the Joe Biden administration is just rushing headlong on the “America first” course charted by its predecessor.

The Biden administration has vowed to strengthen exchanges and avoid conflict with China. But it has not rolled back the previous administration’s protectionist tariffs on Chinese imports. And its latest move to sabotage China’s technological prowess unequivocally drives home the fact that it is adopting a tougher and more systemic confrontational approach to contain China’s rise than the previous administration did.

On Thursday, the Biden administration added seven Chinese supercomputer research labs and manufacturers to a US export blacklist citing the now familiar homily of national security as the reason. The order bans US technology companies, institutes and manufacturers from dealing with these Chinese parties.

On the same day, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee showed the extent to which Washington is in the grip of irrational fears about the challenges China poses to US national and economic security, announcing an “unprecedented bipartisan effort to mobilize all US strategic, economic and diplomatic tools for an Indo-Pacific strategy” to confront China.

The 280-page Strategic Competition Act of 2021 is a stark declaration of the desire for another Cold War, showing that even hard-nosed US politicians are not immune to the delusions of Hollywood heroism.

Although the Biden administration appears willing to show more “strategic patience”, the harm its China policy will incur to the US and the rest of the world will be no lighter. Indeed it is likely to be greater as it is seeking to transfer its attempted bullying of China into a mob lynching by trying to persuade its European and Indo-Pacific allies to close ranks with it.

But as the previous administration’s failed antiChina farces over the past four years indicate, any politically driven schemes, be they bills, orders, sanctions or coercions, are doomed to fail, as none of them can function without hurting not only the interests of China, but also the interests of the US and beyond.

US trade with China increased 8.8 percent in 2020, and the US’ global trade deficit reached the highest level in 12 years, both contrary to the then administration’s strategic purposes. And over the first two months of this year, the US became the largest destination for Chinese exports.

In other words, any actions the US administration takes to contain China’s rise can neither succeed in doing that nor will they consolidate the US’ competitive strengths over China.

Instead, the moves will only serve to consolidate China’s resolve to seek national rejuvenation and isolate the US from the rest of the world, as such approaches are based on a zero-sum mentality that is out of step with the trends of the times.