A leading Chinese strategist said the U.S. should be 'more confident' in competing with China, pointing to America's deep capital markets and its technology base.
Yu Tiejun, president of Peking University’s Institute of International and Strategic Studies, made the remarks at the Asia New Vision Forum in Singapore on Sept. 29. He said the U.S. has 'many opportunities' in technological innovation and argued that Washington has little reason to be anxious about losing ground.
Yu also warned that the U.S.-China rivalry has produced an 'over-securitization of almost everything.' He said the current moment feels like the 1930s, with rising nationalism and populism among major powers.
Diplomatic relations between Washington and Beijing warmed slightly after Chinese President Xi’s visit to Washington last week, when the two leaders agreed to a two-month extension of their bilateral trade truce. That marked a mild thaw in a relationship that has steadily worsened over the past decade.
Yu’s case rested on a hard number. The top U.S. tech firms spent more than $400 billion in capital expenditures in 2025, compared with just $63 billion for Chinese tech firms, according to Boston Consulting Group. He also noted that Anthropic’s and OpenAI’s valuations significantly outstrip those of DeepSeek, Moonshot AI and others.
Joseph Liow, dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said the two powers should still look for areas to work together. He cited AI governance and biotechnology as possible points of cooperation and said, 'The problem is politics, basically.'
The discussion also turned to smaller nations in Southeast Asia, which are increasingly being forced to choose between the U.S. and China. Liow said countries need strategic autonomy and space to pursue their own interests without turning external dependence into a vulnerability.
The Asian Development Bank raised its growth forecasts for Southeast Asia to 4.7% in 2026 and 4.9% in 2027. But the region remains uneven, and ASEAN integration is still a 'moving target,' according to Liow.
For Washington, the message is straightforward. Capital rewards clear rules, and the U.S. still has the scale that markets respect. Yu’s remarks amount to a reminder that confidence, not administrative panic, is what sustains free enterprise in a strategic rivalry.
The market has already voted. Deep capital markets and a $400 billion spending gap are not the signs of a system losing its edge. They are the signs of a country that still has leverage if it chooses to use it.
