As the 2024 election gets closer policy experts say U.S.-China relations wont change much – the focus will stay on strategic competition. However if Donald Trump returns to office‚ the big question is: whoʼll be running his China policy
Two distinct groups of Republican China experts have different ideas about managing Beijing. The first group thinks America should copy its cold-war playbook making relations more hostile; the second group (including Elbridge Colby who used to work in defense) wants something less dramatic – just keeping Americas power strong in the Indo-Pacific region
The choice between these approaches could affect how U.S.-China competition plays out. Some policy-makers see this as an all-or-nothing fight‚ while others like Colby suggest a more down-to-earth strategy: focusing on practical goals and regional influence (rather than trying to win a world-wide ideological battle)