The rivalry between the United States and China is undoubtedly something that over the last decades has been the strongest driver of all changes that are taking place on global markets - in almost every area of our lives. The question is, who is currently at the forefront of this race?
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The best measure, of course, is technology performance, because it is technology that gives you the greatest advantage. But how to measure all this? How to assess whether the Chinese or the Americans are doing better in this field? As it turns out, we don't have to think too much about it, because the answer comes from ASPI (Australian Strategic Policy Institute), a think tank based in Canberra, whose main mission is research in the field of strategic and defense policy.
Power beyond the Great Wall
The aforementioned think tank took into account as many as 44 technologies critical for the geopolitical scene, and as it turned out, in 37 cases China was the winner. Ok, the position of the leader of the giant from behind the Great Wall may not be surprising, but its advantage over the biggest rival should make you think.
The Chinese have been conducting very advanced research for years, gaining an advantage and when it comes to science and technological progress, they beat the competition today, not only in the form of the USA, but also other Western potentates.
But what exactly are we talking about? What is this advantage? Considering only these key sectors, it is certainly worth emphasizing the dominance in the field of very high performance computing, which in fact generates advantages in other categories as well. Vaccines, mobile communications, medicine, satellites and, finally, advanced weapons. The latter aspect is of particular importance in these times of considerable uncertainty, war and unprecedented tensions in the geopolitical arena for decades.
The conflict in Ukraine, or rather Russia's aggressive attack on its neighbor - but it's worth calling things by their name - is of course one side of the coin and something that comes to mind at first glance. Equally important, and who knows if ultimately a more strategic game is currently taking place in the Pacific between China and the USA regarding Taiwan. The aforementioned scientific and technological advantage in the field of armaments may therefore be decisive in the long term.
“In the long term, China's research leadership means that the country has achieved great success not only in the current cycle of technological development in almost every sector. This also means that it will also have an advantage in future technologies that do not yet exist” - we read in the ASPI report.
Absolute domination
In numbers alone, the advantage of the Chinese looks really impressive. The report we rely on also says that if you go back in time just five years, you can see that it was behind the Great Wall that nearly half of all research documents with a global reach were generated (exactly 48.49%).
As you can easily deduce, this increases the chances of the Chinese to obtain patents from which they will benefit in the future. But that's not all, because the favorable research environment, resources and opportunities also make Beijing the biggest magnet for the greatest minds in the world in the future.
“The race for scientific and technological breakthroughs is ongoing and of great importance. At the moment, however, Western democracies are definitely losing this competition” - concludes the ASPI report.
What could this mean in the short and long term? The pandemic and interrupted supply chains opened the eyes of many Western politicians, but the question is whether it's not too late? It may take years to make up for the losses to China, which is growing in strength, and in the near future the differences can only deepen.
Foto: https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/china-flag-wrinkled-dark-background-3d-render_1190585.htm#query=china%20war&position=1&from_view=search&track=ais" / Image by natanaelginting / on Freepik
