The December 2017 release of a new US National Security Strategy was, in key ways, a watershed moment. The previous strategy, released in 2015, noted that “the scope of our cooperation with China is unprecedented.” By 2017, the tone had shifted markedly. It was perhaps the clearest starting point of the era of US-China strategic competition.

In the years since, the two countries have positioned themselves in opposition to one another on a range of issues. China seeks to reunify with Taiwan, by force if necessary, while the United States aims to deter any such aggression. Washington and Beijing compete for influence with other governments, particularly but not exclusively in the Indo-Pacific region, while also engaging in a trade war. The United States has worked with others to offer extensive material support to Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion, while China has strengthened its ties with Moscow.

Public discussion in the United States naturally tends to focus on all of those issues, and the broader competition, from a US policy perspective. But what do those areas of tension and the US-China strategic rivalry look like from Beijing? How do Chinese leaders conceptualize that rivalry and frame China’s interests and objectives within it? To examine those questions, John Amble is joined on this episode of the MWI Podcast by Ali Wyne, the senior research and advocacy advisor for US-China relations at the International Crisis Group and author of the 2022 book America’s Great-Power Opportunity: Revitalizing U.S. Foreign Policy to Meet the Challenges of Strategic Competition.

The MWI Podcast is produced through an endowment generously funded by the West Point Class of 1974. You can listen to this episode of the podcast below, and if you aren’t already subscribed, be sure to find it on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast app so you don’t miss an episode. While you’re there, please take just a moment to leave the podcast a rating or give it a review!

Image credit: kremlin.ru, via Wikimedia Commons