China today runs a comprehensive state-led system of industrial espionage that targets both military and civilian expertise - and the effort dwarfs anything the world has previously seen. The methods closely resemble those of imperial Germany before World War I, but at a far greater scale.
Odd Arne Westad, a Yale professor writing in Foreign Affairs, has drawn this direct comparison. Like China today, Germany used subsidies, nontariff barriers, and forced technology transfers to privilege its own companies, "Hvylya" reports. "Although many countries, including the United States, have used combinations of such methods to facilitate their own growth, the Chinese effort today seems to be on a scale that dwarfs anything seen before," Westad wrote.
American suspicions about China's methods feed a deeper anxiety about economic fairness. But Westad argues that some of these fears are projections of domestic troubles - much as Britain's suspicions of Germany before 1914 reflected its own vulnerabilities. At least five million US manufacturing jobs have vanished since 2000, and the country has failed to retrain displaced workers or help them transition.
The result is a population primed to blame foreign powers. "It is easier to blame their financial vulnerability on foreign powers than to deal with the root causes at home," Westad noted. Stagnant wages, lack of access to proper health insurance, paid sick leave, and retirement plans have created deep dissatisfaction that makes China a convenient target.
The combination of legitimate grievances and exaggerated fears creates a dangerous feedback loop. US policymakers have responded with tariffs, export controls, investment restrictions, and pressure on allies to follow suit. So far, Westad argued, these measures have achieved little besides enraging China's leaders and a substantial portion of the Chinese public.
"Hvylya" previously reported on three critical resources China controls that the US simply cannot replace.