Thammasat University students interested in China, ASEAN studies, technology, political science, economics, sociology, and related subjects may find it useful to participate in a free 23 January Zoom webinar on Chinese Tech in Southeast Asia in the face of US-China Rivalry.

The event, on Tuesday, 23 January at 9am Bangkok time, is presented by the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore.

The TU Library collection includes several books about different aspects of the rivalry between the People’s Republic of China and the United States of America.

Students are invited to register at this link:

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/3017052946845/WN_piQMRLT_R2GICrUBcqe_Lw#/

The event webpage explains:

REGIONAL STRATEGIC & POLITICAL STUDIES PROGRAMME

The seminar will look into the role of high technologies as an arena for US-China strategic competition, with a focus on the unfolding dynamics in Southeast Asia. It will examine Chinese efforts at technological upgrading, and how Chinese companies are making inroads into Southeast Asia. The focus will be on certain high technology sectors, notably data centres and cloud services, artificial intelligence (AI) and the evolving automotive industry. This will shed light on how Southeast Asian countries are positioning themselves to navigate the challenges and seize the opportunities arising from the US-China technology competition.

About the Speakers

Mr. John Lee is a Visiting Fellow at the Regional Strategic and Political Studies Program in ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore. He is also the director of consultancy East West Futures and a researcher at the Leiden Asia Centre. […]

Ms. Asha Hemrajani is a Senior Fellow at the Centre of Excellence for National Security at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore. […]

Last year Dr. Lee coauthored a report for The Carter Center: Finding Firmer Ground: The Role of High Technology in U.S.-China Relations.

The report’s Executive Summary begins:

In the past decade, China and the U.S. have found themselves increasingly in dispute over issues like the South China Sea and Taiwan, and these disagreements have only intensified in recent years. Conflict between the U.S. and China is escalating, starting with the trade war under the Trump administration on economic and technological fronts and later expanding into the realm of human rights, governance, and semiconductor competition under the Biden administration. As tensions have risen and attempts to defuse conflict have dwindled, the chance that the two countries become entangled in greater strife has increased.

One of the central sources of friction relates to the emergence and use of new technologies, which have opened not only new realms of opportunity but also potential for exploitation. Today, new technologies and their applications are complex, underregulated, and thought to be farther-reaching than previous technology regimes.

The fact that both nations are attempting to compete fiercely across the range of new technologies has situated the U.S. and China as strategic competitors.

Both nations have competitive advantages that set them apart from one another. On one hand, the U.S. has a well-funded private sector that innovates mainly for the consumer. On the other hand, China has a state-funded apparatus for both state- and privately owned enterprises that innovates based on state policy objectives. It is this competitive advantage, China’s state-driven approach, that principally concerns American values surrounding personal privacy and competition. Conversely, some Chinese resent the United States’ protective attitude toward technology, which, in their view, seeks to prevent other nations from reverse engineering or simply using proprietary technology.

Due to the complexity of technology, intellectual property theft, competing state approaches, and clashing values over privacy have created major challenges to American and Chinese companies operating cross-nationally. Even where there is a clear legal structure governing technology use, concerns remain over legal enforcement and the ultimate control of such technology. In this report, we review major new technologies, discuss the issues at stake between the U.S. and China, and describe ways that both countries can find firmer ground to coexist peacefully. We specifically examine artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, big data and privacy, semiconductors, and cyberattacks, and conclude with suggestions for constructive dialogue.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence can simulate human thought and reactions using large data sets and has both civilian and military applications. AI-based applications can be used for business purposes, to provide customers with the highest service levels. The technology has been used, for example, to improve credit scoring for small businesses and to customize product marketing to individual preferences. At the same time, AI can also be applied to enhance the effectiveness of cyberattacks or to monitor people.

One of the biggest concerns surrounding AI relates to different views about human rights and legal enforcement in China and the U.S. Culturally, Americans have often emphasized the protection of individual rights, while the Chinese tend to emphasize the rights and security of society as a whole. In addition, the relationship between AI and the legal system differs in both countries. While both the U.S. and China use AI facial recognition technology to monitor citizens, for example, there are key differences as to how citizens are identified as national security threats and in provision of due process.

In addition to these differences, the U.S. has criticized China for competing unfairly by involving the state in innovation.[1] Notably, the U.S. government is increasingly involved in setting innovation and technology competition policy. Both the U.S. and China have AI strategies created by their respective governments, but the Chinese strategy is more comprehensive. The Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology develop research in this area and bring new technologies to industry. In addition, China has integrated AI development into its policy plans since the controversial Made in China 2025 plan was released in 2015, furthering China’s role as “strategic competitor” to the U.S.

Due to fundamental differences in views of human rights and the role of the state in innovation, the U.S. and China will continue to struggle to find common ground on this technology. However, the ability to avoid escalation of future conflicts is essential to building trust on this issue. The establishment of conditions that help to increase transparency and can provide a means for de-escalation in the event of conflict will improve the chances of maintaining a peaceful relationship. […]

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)