China’s Competitiveness and the United States’ Strategy of Technological Containment

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Department of International Relations, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

10.22124/wp.2026.32802.3635

Abstract

In recent years, relations between the United States and China have shifted from economic cooperation to increasing rivalry and open confrontation across economic, security, and technological domains. China’s rapid economic growth and technological advancement have transformed it into a major global actor, challenging the hegemonic position of the United States. In response, Washington has adopted a strategy of containment toward China, with technological containment emerging as one of its most significant components. This article seeks to explain why the United States has turned to a strategy of technological containment as part of its broader effort to reduce China’s competitiveness. It advances the hypothesis that China’s technological progress has strengthened its economic and military power, creating the conditions for its emergence as a structural peer competitor to the United States. Consequently, the United States has resorted to technological containment to prevent this transition. Employing process tracing as its methodological approach, the article analyzes the causal mechanisms linking technological advancement, economic power, and military capability in China, and demonstrates how these factors have contributed to the redefinition of the international order and the formation of the U.S. strategy of technological containment.

Keywords

World Politics

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 08 August 2026

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