An incumbent superpower and a rising one are finding coexistence increasingly difficult. Jockeying for position in a changing world, the U.S. and China are facing off on all sorts of issues, most — but not all — involving economic rather than military might. Here’s a rundown of some big disputes, some with significant real-world consequences and others that for now are mostly symbolic.

TikTok

IMPACT: Significant

DISPUTE: The addictive video-sharing app TikTok, owned by the Chinese company Bytedance Ltd., is hugely popular in the U.S., especially among teens. U.S. officials say there’s a potential security threat if the data it collects is used by the Chinese government to create behavioral profiles of Americans. By contrast, U.S. platforms including Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. have long been barred from mainland China due to that country’s censorship rules.

CONSEQUENCES: The U.S. is conducting a formal review of TikTok, and President Donald Trump has suggested he might ban its use in the country (as India has done). Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said other Chinese companies could also be targeted. Meanwhile, Bytedance is said to be considering establishing a separate headquarters for TikTok outside China to distance itself from the government, and Microsoft Corp. on Aug. 2 said that it was in talks to buy TikTok’s operations in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Hong Kong

IMPACT: Significant

DISPUTE: China promised that Hong Kong would have “a high degree of autonomy” after it took back the city from the British in 1997. The U.S., as a result, granted a special trading status that helped Hong Kong to prosper as an international financial center. At the end of June, the Chinese government imposed a tough new national security law on the city, following a year of pro-democracy protests, prompting Trump to declare the special status revoked.

CONSEQUENCES: Though Trump stopped short of applying the same tariffs to Hong Kong exports as it does to those from mainland China, the revocation of some special privileges jarred Hong Kong’s image as a stable base for multinational companies. Global financial institutions in particular could face penalties if they knowingly do business with Chinese officials targeted by U.S. sanctions for their involvement in Hong Kong. China has vowed to sanction U.S. officials and entities and take other equivalent countermeasures, without elaborating. No officials were named as of mid-July.

Spying

IMPACT: Significant

DISPUTE: The U.S. accuses China of increasing the scale of spying and influence operations over the past few years, including interference in domestic politics, stolen intellectual property, coercion of business leaders and threatening the families of Chinese Americans in China. China has denied allegations that it launched cyber attacks aimed at stealing state and trade secrets from the U.S. and its allies.

CONSEQUENCES: The State Department on July 22 ordered the Chinese consulate in Houston closed “to protect American intellectual property and Americans’ private information.” Two days later China demanded the U.S. close its consulate in the southwestern city of Chengdu. On July 21, the Justice Department accused two Chinese hackers in an indictment of working for Beijing to steal or try to steal terabytes of data, including coronavirus research, from Western companies in 11 nations.

Huawei

IMPACT: Significant

DISPUTE: The Trump administration has designated Huawei Technologies Co. and ZTE Corp. as national security threats, saying use of their gear would make communication networks vulnerable to spying. They deny the charges, and China says the U.S. is trying to suppress the development of Chinese companies. (ZTE is a shadow of its former self, in part due to previous U.S. pressure.)

CONSEQUENCES: The U.S. is making headway in pressing its allies to steer clear of Huawei equipment for their fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks. It has moved to deny Huawei access to U.S. technology, making it difficult for the company to design and produce its own chips. The U.S. also is seeking the extradition, from Canada, of a high-ranking Huawei executive on charges related to alleged violations of U.S. sanctions on Iran. China has said that it, too, will take measures against foreign companies that undermine its interests.

Media

IMPACT: Significant

DISPUTE: The Trump administration views most if not all Chinese media outlets as extensions of the Communist Party. China says its media outlets promote international understanding.

CONSEQUENCES: The U.S. and China have taken actions to expel or limit the stays of each other’s reporters, with the Trump administration going so far as to designate some Chinese media companies as foreign missions, a move denounced by Beijing. China has demanded that certain U.S. media outlets submit detailed information on personnel and assets, and kicked out American reporters in Beijing from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post. The New York Times also said it would relocate some of its Hong Kong-based staff to Seoul.

Tariffs and trade

IMPACT: Significant

DISPUTE: What started in 2018 with U.S. tariffs on imported washing machines and solar panels escalated into a two-year trade war that, at its peak in 2019, was adding levies to almost $500 billion in products shipped between the two nations. U.S. leaders accuse China of unfair trading practices including subsidizing domestic companies and appropriating intellectual property; China insists it plays by global trade rules and says the U.S. is trying to curb its development.

CONSEQUENCES: Bloomberg Economics estimated in September that the trade war, and the uncertainty it fostered, could lower gross domestic product in the U.S., China and the world by 0.6%, 1% and 0.6%, respectively, by 2021. (That was before the coronavirus pandemic added an entirely new challenge to global growth.) A partial trade-war truce called early this year has held up despite new pressure due to the coronavirus and rising tensions over Hong Kong, Huawei and other issues ahead of the November U.S. presidential election.

Xinjiang

IMPACT: Potentially significant

DISPUTE: In its far western region of Xinjiang, China says it’s fighting separatism and religious extremism among the Uighurs, a Muslim ethnic group. As many as 1 million were interned in camps the government calls “voluntary education centers.” The U.S. and others say China is committing massive human rights violations.

CONSEQUENCES: The Trump administration has blacklisted Chinese technology companies, including video surveillance firms, that it said were implicated in human rights abuses in the region. The Treasury Department sanctioned four Chinese officials linked to the region, limiting their travel to the U.S. and blocking any financial ties. While largely symbolic unless any of them hold significant assets outside China, the move was significant in that it included a top member of China’s ruling Communist Party. It later added Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a government entity, and two associated individuals to the list. China has retaliated with similar sanctions against U.S. officials including Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.

Travel

IMPACT: Potentially significant

DISPUTE: Fraying relations have led to increased distrust over the treatment citizens may receive on each other’s soil, leading to travel advisories.

CONSEQUENCES: In a July security alert, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing warned that Americans living in or traveling to China may face arbitrary arrest and that Chinese security forces may “detain and/or deport” U.S. citizens for “sending private electronic messages critical of” China’s government. China’s tourism ministry issued a travel warning in February, saying Chinese tourists have been treated unfairly in the U.S. due to excessive virus prevention measures. China was also said last year to have asked employees at state-run enterprises to avoid business trips to the U.S. and take extra care to protect their electronic devices.

Research

IMPACT: Potentially significant

DISPUTE: The Trump administration has questioned the intentions of some Chinese scholars abroad, saying they may operate as “non-traditional collectors of intellectual property.”

CONSEQUENCES: The White House this year said it would suspend entry for thousands of post-graduate students and researchers deemed national security risks because of their ties with China’s military schools. The U.S. last year began requiring Chinese diplomats to notify the U.S. before they visit universities and research institutions or local government officials, saying it was a reciprocal move. China denied it places such requirements on American diplomats.

South China Sea

IMPACT: Potentially significant

DISPUTE: China’s expansive territorial claims in the resource-rich South China Sea have put it at odds with Southeast Asia neighbors including Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia. The U.S. has sent warships and aircraft near disputed areas for decades to assert the freedom to navigate through what it considers international airspace and waters. More than $3 trillion worth of trade is estimated to transit through the region annually.

CONSEQUENCES: The Trump administration, reversing a U.S. policy of not taking sides, now says some of China’s broad claims to the South China Sea “are completely unlawful,” prompting China to accuse the U.S. of “doing all it can to stir up trouble” in the region. Although no specific actions have accompanied the dueling pronouncements, both sides conduct military exercises and other operations in the South China Sea, creating the possibility of a miscalculation.

Taiwan

IMPACT: Symbolic, for now

DISPUTE: A 1979 law commits the U.S. to support the military self-defense of Taiwan, the democratically run island that China claims as its territory.

CONSEQUENCES: China routinely objects to U.S. arms sales to the island and did so again after the State Department approved a possible $620 million deal for Taiwan to buy parts to refurbish previously sold Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) surface-to-air missiles. China vowed unspecified sanctions on Lockheed Martin Corp., the main contractor. U.S. defense companies are prohibited from making sales to China, so the impact of sanctions is minimal, though analysts worry China may try to disrupt supply chains. China has long vowed to reunite the island with the mainland, by force if necessary.

Delisting Chinese companies

IMPACT: Symbolic, for now

DISPUTE: China has long refused to let American regulators examine audits of Chinese companies, even those traded on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq. A bill with momentum in the U.S. Congress could force major Chinese companies such as Alibaba Group Holding to cease trading their shares in the U.S. unless that changes.

CONSEQUENCES: Even if the bill becomes law, nothing would happen unless Chinese companies fail to meet their new obligations for three years in a row. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission would also need to write rules for how companies could certify they aren’t run by a foreign government, another requirement for firms to avoid delisting under the bill.

Coronavirus

IMPACT: Symbolic

DISPUTE: Trump has attacked China’s handling of the outbreak, which he and others on his team have labeled the “Chinese virus” or “Kung flu.” The two sides have also traded accusations about its origins.

CONSEQUENCES: Each put restrictions on the other’s airlines to stem the spread of the virus. In July Trump began the process of quitting the World Health Organization, in part due to what he called its undue deference to China.

Tibet

IMPACT: Symbolic

DISPUTE: In 1959, the People’s Liberation Army quashed a revolt in this mountainous region on China’s border with India and Nepal, and the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, fled into exile. Tibet’s status as an autonomous region of China has long been an irritant in U.S.-China relations.

CONSEQUENCES: The Trump administration imposed travel restrictions on unspecified Chinese government and party officials determined to be “substantially involved” in restricting access to the region by U.S diplomats and others. In response, China said it would restrict visas for U.S. personnel over their “egregious behavior” on Tibet.

Now Zhang may find himself on the wrong side of nationalism in both the U.S. and China. With hashtags about TikTok’s U.S. episode trending on China’s largest microblogging platform Weibo, Zhang hid all his posts from the public after users flooded his account with comments slamming his decision to sell.

-Bloomberg

http://www.mediaissuesng.com/politics/real-reasons-growing-disputes-between-usa-and-china-are-escalating/

Although i didn't read all the post, the thing that makes me angry is that, Africans will be the one to suffer the consequences of this conflict between the two country.


With my little experience, I think the US is becoming an international bully. They should calm down and try to create peace with every country.

This pandemic is already affecting them, imagine if china or another enemy country decides to produce another virus, the USA will go down on their knees.




Every time I think about this USA, China and Coronavirus issue, I always remember the movie "24 hours"....

Nearly all of these happened in that movie especially during the time of president Palmer.

squash47:
Although i didn't read all the post, the thing that makes me angry is that, Africans will be the one to suffer the consequences of this conflict between the two country.


With my little experience, I think the US is becoming an international bully. They should calm down and try to create peace with every country.

This pandemic is already affecting them, imagine if china or another enemy country decides to produce another virus, the USA will go down on their knees.




Every time I think about this USA, China and Coronavirus issue, I always remember the movie "24 hours"....

Nearly all of these happened in that movie especially during the time of president Palmer.

24... One of the best series I ever watch. I'll tell my children about it.

Trump's impact; the clueless racist is hell bent on tarnishing America's reputation. And setting it at loggerheads with other top powers

squash47:
Although i didn't read all the post, the thing that makes me angry is that, Africans will be the one to suffer the consequences of this conflict between the two country.


With my little experience, I think the US is becoming an international bully. They should calm down and try to create peace with every country.

This pandemic is already affecting them, imagine if china or another enemy country decides to produce another virus, the USA will go down on their knees.




Every time I think about this USA, China and Coronavirus issue, I always remember the movie "24 hours"....

Nearly all of these happened in that movie especially during the time of president Palmer.

Africa particularly Nigeria could benefit more from this conflict if She plays her card diligently. One thing I like about Buhari is that, he talks less and this makes it hard to know his original intention about matter. He is better in international politics and respected to some extend.

If not for unnecessary Trump's provocative attitude on Nigeria, you wouldnt be able to guess where Buhari's support would be. Buhari has managed Nigeria relationship with other nations relatively well.