History was made at Donald Trump’s inauguration when China’s Vice-President Han Zheng became the first senior Chinese leader to attend a US presidential inauguration. While the invitation by the new administration is seen as a sign of a thaw in the strained relationship between the two superpowers, it comes against a backdrop of deep economic and geopolitical tensions.
Advertisement
Joe Biden has handed over a US-China relationship marked by years of conflict – trade wars, blacklists and sanctions, all aimed at curbing China’s rise. Yet the effectiveness of these measures remains hotly debated. Have they hindered China’s growth or fuelled its ability to adapt and thrive in a multipolar world?
Consider the recent addition of Tencent and Contemporary Amperex Technology Limited (CATL) to a Pentagon blacklist. While this blacklisting, unlike sanctions, does not impose direct restrictions, it still signals political scrutiny and raises reputational risks for these companies.
Tencent, the world’s largest gaming company, controls an estimated 17 per cent of the over US$200 billion global gaming market, deriving over 25 per cent of its gaming revenue from overseas. CATL supplies as much as 37 per cent of the world’s electric vehicle (EV) batteries to carmakers such as Tesla and Volkswagen. Tencent and CATL anchor industries that define the 21st century: digital infrastructure and renewable energy.
While the blacklisting does not immediately impede their operations, it underscores intensifying US-China economic tensions, where the lines between competition, security and strategy are growing increasingly blurred.
Advertisement
In 2011, when the US barred China from the International Space Station through the Wolf Amendment, it sought to stifle Beijing’s space ambitions. Instead, it spurred China’s push for self-reliance, culminating in the Tiangong space station. Recently, Chinese astronauts achieved a breakthrough in producing industrial-grade niobium-silicon alloy, a development with transformative potential for aerospace technology.