In a political standoff on the level of the Cold War with the Soviet Union, Washington is now entering a new red scare – this time in an economic battle with China – The New York Times reported.
"This is the defining event of our time, and 100 years from now, this is what they're going to remember us for," former White House strategist Steve Bannon told the Committee on the Present Danger, per the Times.
Bannon, long out of the White House circle, has been resurrected for the Cold War-era group, warning against China's rise as an existential threat to American interests both in terms of economics and national security.
"These are two systems that are incompatible," Bannon said of the U.S. and China amid trade negotiations to avert a trade war, according to the report. "One side is going to win, and one side is going to lose."
The two economic powers are battling over more than just trade and tariffs, "American intelligence agencies have also ratcheted up efforts to combat Chinese espionage, particularly at universities and research institutions," the Times reported.
"I'm worried that some people are going to say, because of this fear, any policy is justifiable," the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Scott Kennedy told the Times. "The climate of fear that is being created needs to help generate the conversation, not end the conversation."
There is "an anti-Chinese version of the Red Scare" now gripping the U.S., according to Susan Shirk from the University of California at San Diego's 21st Century China Center, the Times reported.
"We've made this mistake once before, during the Cold War," she told the Times.
"And I don't think we should make it again."
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