China and America are borrowing each other’s weapons
AMERICAN AND Chinese officials often talk of expanding the array of weapons they have to confront one another. China studies its opponent’s moves and responds in kind. America is learning from its adversary, too. On June 12th the White House said that America and members of the G7 would launch a scheme to help finance infrastructure, such as roads and bridges, in poor countries. The plan, dubbed Build Back Better World (B3W), is an explicit counter to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a programme that began to take shape in 2013 with many of the same goals.
Competition with China has dominated Joe Biden’s agenda since he took over as America’s president in January. His administration has promised to use “all available tools” to push back against what it describes as China’s unfair trade practices. The B3W plan takes aim at a global initiative closely associated with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. Although BRI does not have a central planning body, more than 100 countries that are in need of infrastructure have signed up to it. The initiative has been criticised for burdening poor countries with unsustainable debts. But it has helped to strengthen bonds between China and the developing world.
B3W would offer financing for cleaner projects, in contrast to some of those backed by China, which include coal-fired...