Biden Putting Tech, Not Troops, at Core of U.S.-China Policy
- Chips, AI and 5G networks all helping frame policy toward Asia
- Vision of ‘techno-democracies’ taking on ‘techno-autocracies’
President Joe Biden holds a semiconductor before signing an executive order on Feb. 24. The battle over microchips – and the focus they’re being given in the early days of the Biden administration -- is being forced upon the new White House by necessity.
Photographer: Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg
The Biden administration is moving to put semiconductors, artificial intelligence and next-generation networks at the heart of U.S. strategy toward Asia, attempting to rally what officials are calling “techno-democracies” to stand up to China and other “techno-autocracies.”
The new framing for the U.S. rivalry with China has been given added urgency by the sudden global shortage of microchips needed in products such as cars, mobile phones and refrigerators. The strategy would seek to rally an alliance of nations fighting for an edge in semiconductor fabrication and quantum computing, upending traditional arenas of competition such as missile stockpiles and troop numbers.