“The USA is facing an existential threat in the form of a China, that is much more challenging than the erstwhile Soviet Union.” Explain. (UPSC 2021)

China poses a more comprehensive challenge to the USA than the Soviet Union because it combines military, economic, technological and institutional power. Unlike the USSR, China is deeply integrated into global trade and supply chains, so confrontation is costlier and decoupling is difficult.

• Economic power: China contributes about 18% of global GDP and nearly 27% of manufacturing value-added, giving it leverage through trade, investment and markets.
• Technological strength: It is competitive in AI, robotics, 5G and dual-use technologies, unlike the USSR’s largely military-industrial focus.
• Institutional reach: Through AIIB, BRICS+, CIPS and the NDB, China is creating alternative platforms that can weaken US-led rules.
• Military capability: Its blue-water navy, missiles and anti-access systems threaten US dominance in the Indo-Pacific.

Thus, China is a near-peer competitor with wider global penetration and a more enduring challenge to US primacy.