Shantanu Roy-Chaudhury

Opinion | How powerful narratives of US-China tech war will shape its outcome

Both the US and China are employing different narratives to rally their domestic populations behind their tech policies

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Shantanu Roy-Chaudhury

Published: 8:30pm, 27 Sep 2024Updated: 9:18pm, 27 Sep 2024

The domestic narratives employed by the United States and China in framing their technology competition reveal starkly different approaches and underlying strategic objectives.

The US consistently portrays the competition as a catalyst for domestic renewal and a critical national security imperative. This narrative is built on several interconnected themes that resonate with American values and concerns.

At the forefront is the emphasis on job creation and economic revitalisation. President Joe Biden has positioned the technological race as an opportunity for large-scale employment growth and economic rejuvenation.

His projection of “over 70,000 jobs across both states [Idaho and New York]”, from a single investment under the Chips and Science Act, exemplifies this approach. By tying technological advancement to tangible economic benefits for American workers, the administration aims to garner broad public support for significant government spending on technology initiatives.

Closely linked to this economic messaging is the framing of technological capabilities as crucial to national security and economic resilience. US officials frequently draw connections between technological self-sufficiency and national safety.

Referring to the semiconductor shortages during the Covid-19 pandemic, Biden said earlier this year, when announcing US$6.1 billion in federal funding to Micron: “I determined that I’m never going to let us be vulnerable to wait lines again.” This statement encapsulates the sentiment.