Partial Disengagement: A New US Strategy for Economic Competition with China

In Search of Regional Stability in the Age of Hyper-Uncertainty: The US-China Strategic Competition and the Redesign of Regional Order in East Asia

“…States that are exposed to vulner ability of the weaponization of interdependence, attempt decoupling to preemptively prevent it. This is the root cause of the US attempt to (at least partially) decouple with China in the digital domain (Friedberg and Boustany 2020). Yoo's explanation is not just empirically solid but warrants the theoretical contribution as it identifies the international dimension that promotes securitization and explains the changes in foreign policy and strategy resulting from it.…”

The Hegemony’s Contest in the South China Sea

“…To decry the alleged breaking of the international trade system, the United States administration, under the Presidency of Trump, has leveled accusations against the Chinese regime, citing China’s unfair trading as well as the theft of intellectual property from American companies (Feng & He, 2018). From 2018 onwards, the Trump administration implemented various tariffs targeting goods produced in China and prevented individual Chinese companies linked to areas vital to the National Interest from operating on U.S. soil and its allies (Friedberg & Boustany, 2020). As a result, the ensuing trade war has strengthened anti-American sentiments in China, which is part of a broader effort to bring the Chinese state under the leadership of the Communist Party (Feng & He, 2018).…”

The Cold War analogy’s misrepresentation of the essence of US–China strategic competition

“…China is pursuing a non-confrontational policy with regard to the US, likely as a status quo state or soft resister. Despite Trump and the trends of populism and nationalism he embodies, the US's radical economic decoupling from China can only be partial due to the interdependent nature of globalization (Friedberg and Boustany 2020). The Cold War strategic competition can be useful as a recent case in a comparative framework, but not as an analogical heuristic.…”