Tyrolean daily newspaper, editorial, edition from November 18, 2023. By CHRISTIAN JENTSCH. "Duel for global leadership".

2023-11-17 21:01:06

Innsbruck (OTS) – The superpowers USA and China are on a collision course. It’s about economic, technological and military dominance. Finally, an attempt was made to smooth things over. But there can be no talk of relaxation.

The unipolar world, in which the US’s leadership role militarily, economically and technologically seemed untouchable, is history. The United States, which acts globally as a power of order and is the anchor of the Western-liberal world order established after the Second World War, can no longer and does not want to be present everywhere. Former US President Donald Trump is not the only one who has taken up the cause of “America First”. It’s about defending national interests and not about enforcing liberal values worldwide. One thing is clear: the USA wants to continue to play first fiddle on the world stage. It’s about controlling the global economy. It’s about leadership in key industries. It’s about a strategic lead in the high-tech sector – for example in matters of artificial intelligence, microchips or quantum computers.
But especially in Asia – the hotspot of global development, where 50 percent of the world’s economic output will soon be generated – the emerging global power China is no longer willing to settle for second place behind the USA. Even if the era of the Chinese economic miracle seems to be over, the real estate crisis has left deep marks in the huge empire and the economy is weakening, China is a superpower. A superpower that has established a worldwide network and has long since overtaken the USA and Europe in the so-called Global South. Beijing is showing Washington its teeth right on its doorstep. The conflict over Taiwan has enormous potential for escalation. Beijing considers the democratic island republic to be part of its territory, and the USA is considered Taiwan’s unofficial protecting power. US President Joe Biden has assured Taipei of military support in the event of a Chinese attack on Taiwan. How far this would go remains unclear. But influential US Republican strategists are not the only ones who see a military conflict between the two superpowers on the horizon. A conflict that would turn the world upside down.
Despite still close economic ties – China is the second largest creditor of the USA with a volume of around 860 billion US dollars – both superpowers are on a collision course. US President Joe Biden and China’s state and party leader Xi Jinping tried to smooth things over at their meeting on Wednesday in California. They are well aware of the disastrous consequences of direct confrontation. But the fuse is burning. And in an atmosphere of mistrust and escalation, the situation can easily spiral out of control.