China's Strategy to Counter the US Using AI and Military

The geopolitical situation has recently become increasingly heated. The United States (US) has deployed its military forces to several countries, such as Venezuela and Iran. At the same time, Washington is pressuring several trading partners through import tariff policies, including Indonesia. This situation has heightened China’s vigilance. President Xi Jinping is reportedly preparing a long-term strategy to address the rivalry with the US. In that strategy, Beijing is said to be redirecting its resources towards artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, and various other strategic technologies, while continuing to strengthen its military capacity. The ambitious plan for the next five years was presented at the national parliamentary session in Beijing some time ago, as reported by The New York Times on Wednesday (4/3/2026). The direction of this policy indicates that Xi views the competition with the US as ultimately determined by superiority in technological innovation that supports economic, military, and cultural power. Therefore, China is now aggressively developing bio-manufacturing, hydrogen and fusion energy, brain-computer interfaces, embodied intelligence, and 6G mobile networks. “In the midst of intense international competition, we must win the strategic initiative,” states the plan. One example occurred during President Joe Biden’s administration. In 2023, the US government restricted Nvidia from selling advanced chips to China, including the H200 graphics processing unit (GPU) used for AI development. Biden argued that selling US technology to China could threaten his country’s national security while giving Beijing an edge in the AI race. In 2025, that policy was then reversed by Donald Trump, who again allowed Nvidia to sell advanced AI chips to the Chinese market. Most recently, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has also banned the use of the latest foreign-made routers starting in January 2026. Although no specific country is mentioned, many analysts believe this policy is primarily aimed at curbing the rise of hardware from China. Previously, Chinese technology companies such as Huawei and ZTE have also been targeted by restrictions. Both were added to the blacklist (entity list), meaning they are prohibited from selling products or obtaining components from US companies. To this day, Huawei remains subject to that blockade. As a result, several Huawei products can no longer use US technology.