China must brace for ‘digital cold war’ with US as battle for tech supremacy heats up
- The digital economy will be the next battleground for strategic competition among powers, says top Chinese think tank analyst
- Separately, former finance vice-minister Zhu Guangyao says US efforts to contain China ‘not good for the global digital economy’
China needs to brace for a “digital cold war” with the United States as the two nations go head-to-head for dominance of the internet economy.
The warning from a top Chinese think tank analyst comes amid heightened technological rivalry between the world’s two largest economies and not long after Beijing unveiled a blueprint to ramp up China’s tech capabilities by 2025.
“The US has adopted a ‘small yard, high fence’ strategy to suppress China with a whole-of-government approach,” said Zhang Monan, chief researcher with the US-Europe Institute at the China Centre for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE).
At the same event, former Chinese finance vice-minister Zhu Guangyao also criticised Washington for trying to contain China’s digital advance.