: U.S.-China Downward Spiral Raises Fresh Fears of Eventual Conflict #WorldNEWS China and the US have locked themselves into a new cycle of recriminations, provoking fresh worries that the world’s

U.S.-China Downward Spiral Raises Fresh Fears of Eventual Conflict #WorldNEWS
China and the US have locked themselves into a new cycle of recriminations, provoking fresh worries that the world’s two biggest economies are heading down a path that could one day lead to the once unthinkable: the possibility of open conflict.
The latest back-and-forth started Monday, when President Xi Jinping said in a speech that China was the victim of “comprehensive containment and suppression by western countries led by the US. ” Two days later, US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines called Xi’s remarks “the most public and direct criticism that we’ve seen from him to date” — and she responded in kind.

China’s Communist Party “represents both the leading and most consequential threat to US national security and leadership globally,” Haines told a Senate hearing that covered everything from dangers posed by TikTok, the Chinese-owned video-sharing app, to the threat of war over Taiwan to China’s role producing precursors to fentanyl, which kills tens of thousands of Americans every year.
The dueling narratives brought into sharp focus how the US and China increasingly have one thing in common: a growing distrust of the other side. Even worse, the escalating rhetoric is entrenching divisions that could make it harder for both sides to find a way to co-exist peacefully over the long term.
“The US-China relationship is stuck in a negative feedback loop,” said Jacob Stokes, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and Obama-era official. “It’s a volatile situation. ”
To be sure, there’s no sign of a war breaking out anytime soon. Haines and Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns also said Thursday the US intelligence community assesses that China doesn’t want a military conflict over Taiwan, particularly after seeing the US and allied support for Ukraine after Russia’s invasion. The countries remain each other’s top trading partners and both sides have insisted they don’t want a new Cold War.
Still, each side is now accelerating preparations for that very scenario. Xi this week implored his government to prepare for greater self-reliance, especially in science and technology, while the US is pushing its allies to reorient supply chains to deny China advanced chips and other strategic goods.
And while pessimism around US-China ties is nothing new, relations have deteriorated at an alarming speed since President Joe Biden met Xi in November and pledged to improve ties. A national uproar over the alleged Chinese spy balloon that traversed the US fanned tensions, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a trip to Beijing meant to build upon the Biden-Xi summit.

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