China Hawks Are Throwing Away Their Strongest Weapon
The West’s economic leverage over Beijing has been hard-won. Advocates of a full decoupling would squander that advantage too lightly.
Xi is taking direct aim at the US for the first time.
Photographer: Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images
Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s recent denunciation of the United States — by name for the first time — for ostensibly trying to suppress China has renewed fears that the two rivals are heading for a full economic decoupling, if not outright conflict. In fact, China cannot afford either right now. The West should want to keep it that way.
Xi’s comments at China’s National People’s Congress this week were striking for their directness. They are further evidence of how much pressure China is feeling as the US beefs up military ties with allies in the Indo-Pacific, blacklists Chinese companies and blocks exports of critical technology to the mainland.