Domestic politics, not conflict, will settle U.S.-China competition

Dangers at home the more pressing threat to each side's worldview

Minxin Pei

December 1, 2021 05:00 JST

20211130 Joe Biden Xi Jinping virtual meeting.jpg

Joe Biden participates in a virtual meeting with Xi Jinping at the White House on Nov. 15: the outcome of the rivalry should become clear in the next 10 years. © Getty Images

Minxin Pei is professor of government at Claremont McKenna College and a nonresident senior fellow of the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

The recent virtual summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping offers a glimpse of the future direction that escalating strategic competition between the U.S. and China will take in the coming years.