By Ding Gang-
The US anxiety and fear of China is nothing new. It has played out like an endless drama with infinite sequels since the Cold War. The latest installment in this long-running saga features a flashy new twist: the “threat” of Chinese artificial intelligence (AI). This time, the “theme song” is straightforward: “China must not dominate AI technology!”
Take a look at the Western mainstream media, where officials and experts tirelessly paint a picture of China’s “ambitions” in a world that will be overrun by “an invading army of AI robots made in China.”
A recent article in The Economist argues “why China can’t be allowed to dominate AI-based warfare,” taking this hysteria to new heights. It’s so far removed from basic logic that it borders on absurdity – suggesting that China’s AI might somehow march onto the battlefield and start fighting wars. This narrative conveniently ignores the simple truth that wars are not determined by “technology” but by national strategy and policy. Technology is fundamentally a tool.
The logic chain of certain US Department of Defense officials and think tank experts is practically “performance art”: “China’s AI advancement will cause the military power of China’s People’s Liberation Army to skyrocket, which, in turn, inevitably leads to war with the US.”
On the policy level, China is clearly a defensive power. Decades of development show this beyond doubt. In contrast, the US has long championed “offensive realism” and pursued a strategy of preemptive strikes. So why has the “China threat” script shifted so dramatically to AI this time? The answer is simple: Anxiety’s inertia spills into a new domain.
Suppose you examine the ingredients of this “AI threat” concoction. In that case, it’s mostly a Cold War mentality mixed with a dose of US fear of losing technological leadership, topped off with a splash of ideological coloring.
The rise of AI has struck a nerve. What the US fears is not just China’s AI technology itself, but what AI represents: a stronger, more open and more influential China that could challenge US hegemony. AI has become a symbol of China’s future potential, and that potential is what truly terrifies Washington.
While China uses AI to develop more efficient healthcare, optimize supply chains and bring autonomous driving closer to reality, the US is obsessed with who will challenge it by using AI in warfare. This mind-set itself reveals the US’ own aggressive intentions. In other words, while accusing China of posing an AI threat, the US inadvertently exposes its vision of how AI could be dangerously weaponized.
During the Cold War, the US created CoCom (Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls), a name that sounded like a public transportation system but was actually a technology embargo organization targeting the socialist bloc. China was one of the targets. Its mission was to prevent China from acquiring high technology beneficial for military and strategic purposes. From nuclear technology to aerospace, from satellite systems to precision manufacturing, CoCom erected layer upon layer of restrictions. The Western rhetoric was clear then: China must not possess anything that could threaten “Western leadership.”
History is repeating itself, this time in the form of AI. The refrain of “China must not develop this, China must not have that” has become a mechanical mantra. Behind it lies the reality of China’s technological rise. At its core, the emergence of the “China AI threat” is a hysterical reaction to China’s technological progress.
In the age of digital civilization, the fire of technology can no longer be monopolized – it will find its way through the sparks of global open-source communities, the circuit boards of Shenzhen’s Huaqiangbei and the lines of code in Beijing’s Zhongguancun.
The “China AI threat” narrative is an alternative acknowledgment of China’s technological march and a stumbling confession of an old hegemon struggling to face a new world. As for those embargoes, they will likely end up alongside the dusty archives of CoCom as exhibits in the “museum of technological history.”
The author is a senior editor with the People’s Daily, and currently a senior fellow with the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at the Renmin University of China. dinggang@globaltimes.com.cn. Follow him on X @dinggangchina
