Collection · 1972 — 2026
USA vs China: The New Great Power Competition
1972-2026: From Nixon's Handshake to Tech War
The speeches charting the rise of China and America's response. From diplomatic opening to trade wars, tech bans, and superpower rivalry.
Fifty-four years of policy, compressed into sixteen speeches. Nixon toasts Zhou Enlai in Shanghai. Six years later Deng closes the Central Working Conference and launches Reform and Opening. Clinton sells PNTR at SAIS. Hu and Xi articulate successive Chinese postures — “harmonious world” and the “China dream.” Trump signs Section 301 tariffs, Pence consolidates the case at Hudson, and the Huawei Entity List opens the technology front. Biden frames it as competition; Xi, at the CCP centenary and at the 20th Party Congress, frames it as rejuvenation and reunification. The 2025-2026 Trump page is updated live as transcripts are released.
Economic Entanglement · US-China Goods Trade (USD billions)
Bilateral goods trade rounded from US Census / BEA / USITC series. 2024 figure reflects ongoing decoupling trend visible since the 2022 peak.
Tariff escalations & tech-ban milestones
Mar 2018 · Trade
Section 301 tariffs
Apr 2018 · Tech
ZTE denial order
May 2019 · Tech
Huawei Entity List
Aug 2020 · Tech
TikTok / WeChat EOs
Aug 2022 · Tech
CHIPS & Science Act
Oct 2022 · Tech
BIS advanced chip export controls
Aug 2023 · Trade
Outbound investment EO
May 2024 · Trade
EV / battery tariff hike
Feb 2025 · Trade
Second-term tariff escalation
Interactive Timeline · 1972 — 2026
Further Reading
Books on rhetoric & great speeches
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The Long Game: China's Grand Strategy to Displace American Order
Rush Doshi
Written before the author joined the Biden NSC — the standard modern account of Chinese grand strategy.
View on Amazon →Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap?
Graham Allison
The 'Thucydides's Trap' framework that has shaped much US policy debate.
View on Amazon →Has China Won? The Chinese Challenge to American Primacy
Kishore Mahbubani
A Singaporean diplomat's counter-framing of the competition.
View on Amazon →Superpower Showdown: How the Battle Between Trump and Xi Threatens a New Cold War
Bob Davis & Lingling Wei
Wall Street Journal reporters' inside account of the 2018-20 trade war.
View on Amazon →The World According to China
Elizabeth Economy
Hoover Institution's Liz Economy on Xi-era Chinese foreign policy.
View on Amazon →Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology
Chris Miller
FT Business Book of the Year — the canonical single-volume semiconductor history.
View on Amazon →Red Roulette: An Insider's Story of Wealth, Power, Corruption, and Vengeance in Today's China
Desmond Shum
Insider account of the political economy of elite Chinese business.
View on Amazon →The Avoidable War: The Dangers of a Catastrophic Conflict between the US and Xi Jinping's China
Kevin Rudd
Former Australian PM and Mandarin-speaking diplomat's framework for managed strategic competition.
View on Amazon →Browse the full speech library
Beyond the US-China rivalry, our library catalogues hundreds of historic addresses with rhetorical breakdowns and verified transcripts.
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