Skip to main content

ETHNOS_APP

Home • Search • Journals • List 0

Decoding US–China Strategic Competition

Comparative Leverages and Issue Selection

Bibliographic Data

ID12907249
AuthorsChengqiu Wu (0000-0002-9727-4440, Fudan University, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume16
Issue1
Pages31-60
Publication date2023-02-06
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Chinese Journal of International Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1750-8916 • E-ISSN: 1750-8924
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/cjip/poad001
OpenAlexW4319315448
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited1

This article attempts to explore why the USA and China have competed on some issues but not on others and why, in such instances, the USA has gone on the offensive. To answer these questions, we conceptualise strategic competition and propose a strategic competition theory that explains—through a number of descriptive variables, and taking into account political leaders’ ideological preferences—great powers’ issue selection. To examine the selection of issues amid US–China strategic competition, we choose nine issues that are to the USA’s advantage and four issues that are to China’s advantage. We then assess the respective values of the issues’ explanatory variables, which results in a ranking of the leverages in the USA’s and China’s respective toolkits. In comparing the two countries’ bargaining chips and the Trump and Biden administrations’ specific evaluations of those of the USA, we argue that (1) both countries have behaved rationally in their competition; (2) the ideological preferences of political leaders have influenced the USA’s issue selection; and (3) the USA has taken the offensive because the leverage ratio is in the USA’s favour. We further explore the prospects of US–China strategic competition and call for an issue-specific approach to foreign policy research

Adversary · China · Competition (biology · Economics · Ideology · Leverage (statistics · Management · Microeconomics · Offensive · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Selection (genetic algorithm · Strategic complements · Computer Science · Global trade and economics · International Development and Aid · International Relations and Foreign Policy · Law

  • Security governance and health inequity in contemporary crises

    Open Access•Amir Khorram‐Manesh, Harald De Cauwer et al.•Globalization and Health•2026

  • ‘To invest or divest’

    Open Access•Eleanor Yue Gong•Language in Society•2026

  • Contesting coercion

    Open Access•Xuanming Pan, Aiwen Liu et al.•Asian Review of Political Economy•2024

  • The US–China Rivalry

    Open Access•Augusto Leal Rinaldi, Raquel Da Cruz Lima et al.•Journal of Current Chinese Affairs•2024

  • What about the BRICS? examining power politics in a changing world order

    Emilio Rodriguez-Triocci•Journal of Political Power•2024

  • Steering a Developmental Party-State

    Open Access•Chengqiu Wu•Journal of Chinese Political…•2025

  • Digital RMB vs. Dollar Hegemony? Friendly Foes in China-US Currency Competition

    Open Access•Falin Zhang, Yang Cui et al.•Journal of Chinese Political…•2024

  • Ideational Differences, Perception Gaps, and the Emerging Sino–US Rivalry

    Open Access•Chengqiu Wu, Wu Chengqiu•The Chinese Journal of…•2019

Unique citing works7
Citations per year3,5
Citation span2024 - 2026 (3)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 5

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access
Ethnos_APP • Open Source Project • MIT License • Frontend v2.0.0 • Privacy and Cookies • API Documentation: api.ethnos.app/docs • API Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17049435 • Frontend Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17050053 • cruz.rio.br • Expectantes Misericordiae