‘Systemic’ China-US rivalry could last a decade: Washington envoy Nicholas Burns
- Deepening competition ‘quite profound’ with technology ‘at the heart of the battle’ ambassador tells think tank seminar
- Burns also defends hi-tech sanctions and dismisses suggestions that China is rising while the US is in decline
Burns told the seminar, organised by the East-West Centre think tank, that the US had long been a Pacific power – particularly after World War II – but now “there’s a competition under way for military power and military influence”.
Earlier this month, Beijing announced a 7.2 per cent boost this year for its defence spending, the second-highest in the world behind the US, as part of the country’s decades-long mission to modernise and transform its military.
Burn said technology was “at the heart of the battle” between the world’s two largest economies, with rivalries ranging from artificial intelligence to machine learning to quantum sciences and biotechnology.
These things would shape the global economy but also lead to new military technologies that would “define the balance of power in the future”.