East Asian countries have long balanced U.S. and Chinese influence, but the two countries’ intensifying rivalry is increasingly pushing them to choose a side.
China’s explosive economic growth over the past few decades has threatened the United States’s long-standing role as the dominant power in East Asia, with China now outcompeting the U.S. in trade in every East Asian country. Despite this, the U.S. still ranks as the region’s No. 1 power through its military, cultural, and human capital capabilities, per the Lowy Institute’s Asia Power Index. Washington and Beijing have spent the last several years consolidating their relationships, pushing countries in the region to pick a side in the power struggle that has come to consume geopolitics worldwide.
