31st Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum – China Competition
The panel reflected on the evolving strategic rivalry between the United States and China. One panelist, author of Power Rivals: America and China’s Superpower Struggle, explained that China has steadily expanded its trade surplus, strengthened its military, cyber, and nuclear capabilities, and maintained domestic repression, while projecting long-term strategic discipline. However, he noted that China also faces significant debt, demographic, and structural challenges. He warned that the greater risk lies in America’s political fragmentation and short-term fiscal instability, stressing the need for sustained investment in deterrence, stronger alliances in Europe and the Indo-Pacific, and renewed strategic focus.
The panel further emphasized that competition with the Chinese Communist Party extends beyond military and technological domains into multilateral institutions, including UN agencies and global standard-setting bodies, where influence over norms and funding is contested. They cautioned against U.S. disengagement, arguing that withdrawal would allow adversaries to shape global systems. Instead, they called for coalition-building, institutional reform, supply chain resilience in critical sectors such as rare earths and carbon fiber, fiscal responsibility, and improved public understanding of long-term strategic competition to safeguard democratic leadership and global stability.
