US-China Downward Spiral Raises Fresh Fears of Eventual Conflict
- Xi Jinping warns of US-led effort to suppress China’s rise
- Tentative efforts to restore stability have been set aside
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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.