Has a New Cold War between the U.S. and China Begun?: The Reality of the New Cold War

Dr. KIM Kisoo

Senior Research Fellow,

The Sejong Institute

kskim@sejong.org

Executive Summary

❍ Escalation of the U.S.-China Conflict from the Problem of Trade Imbalance to Ideological Clash

- At first, China’s excessive trade surplus with the U.S. emerged as an issue, followed by China’s unfair trade practices. And so, the U.S.-China conflict was initially seen as an economic dispute, but over time, more fundamental problems that are inherent in their bilateral relations have emerged. Soon, the conflict has extended to a structural dimension.

- China’s challenge to the U.S. hegemony started to highlight beyond the economic sphere, and political and economic confrontation between the U.S. and China became a reality. As time went by, the U.S. recognized that the communist China as China’s identity and the Communist Party as its operating mechanism have existed at the root of all the problems, resulting in an ideological dispute between the two countries.

❍ Differences between the Former U.S.-Soviet Cold War (Ideological Conflict) and the New Cold War

- While the former Cold War was a competition and battle between the two completely separated blocs and each bloc’s leading hegemonic powers in political and economic aspects, the new Cold War features economic interdependence between the U.S. and China and the Chinese economy, which is deeply linked to the global economy.

- In case of the new Cold War, it is quite unusual that the uneven interdependence between China and the U.S. has provided a strong leverage for the U.S. against China, enabling a unilateral economic offensive of the U.S. Such a fact allowed the competiton to further expand with the nature of the U.S. economic blockade of China.

- Along with economic measures, the U.S. has demonstrated its intention to block and contain China both diplomatically and militarily. Such measures are similar to the U.S. strategy of blocking the Soviet Union during the former Cold War.

❍ Expected Difficulties for China in Overcoming the U.S. Offensive: Appropriate Responses of South Korea Become Imperative

※ This article is written based on the author’s personal opinions and does not reflect the views of the Sejong Institute.

※ Translator’s note: This is a summarized unofficial translation of the original paper which was written in Korean. All references should be made to the original paper.