Is This How a Cold War With China Begins?
About this episode
Weiss, a Cornell political scientist and former senior adviser in the Biden State Department, warns of a 'China trap' — a mutual-escalation dynamic making conflict more likely than necessary. She argues Biden kept and deepened Trump's hawkish turn: sweeping extraterritorial semiconductor export controls that treat Chinese indigenous innovation as a per se security threat, and increasingly explicit Taiwan commitments. She contends much of Washington's posture is really about preserving American primacy, noting the U.S. has also undermined the rules-based order it claims to defend. Overreacting, she argues, risks turning China into what Washington fears; U.S. intelligence itself describes Beijing's ambition as becoming a major — not the — global power. The eroding Taiwan status quo is the likeliest flashpoint. Her alternative: define a positive vision, stop framing competition in civilizational terms, and start at home by remaining open to the scientists and investment that sustain American innovation.