Competition without Self-Harm: Managing Securitization in U.S.–China Relations

Presented by ANU College of Asia & the Pacific

This talk examines the growing securitization in U.S.–China competition. As both Washington and Beijing increasingly treat interdependence as a source of vulnerability, securitization has become a central feature of economic and technological policy. While some expansion of security is necessary, its unchecked growth risks strategic self-harm—undermining innovation, raising economic costs, and weakening long-term competitiveness.

The talk advances bounded securitization as a framework for managing this dilemma. Rather than rejecting security measures, it emphasizes discipline: prioritizing high-probability risks, aligning policy tools with their economic and strategic costs, and maintaining flexibility through review mechanisms. Drawing on recent U.S.–China policy dynamics, the analysis shows how securitization can generate reinforcing cycles of restriction, pushing targeted de-risking toward incremental decoupling. The key challenge is not whether to securitize, but how to do so without eroding the benefits of openness and interdependence. Effective strategy therefore requires discipline rather than maximalism in security policy.

About the Speaker

Xiaoyu Pu is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Nevada, Reno. He is the author of Rebranding China: Contested Status Signaling in the Changing Global Order (Stanford University Press, 2019) and has published widely in leading journals, including International Security,International Affairs, and The Chinese Journal of International Politics. He was a Fellow with the Penn Project on the Future of U.S.–China Relations and a Public Intellectuals Program Fellow with the National Committee on U.S.–China Relations. He has held visiting fellowships at the Australian National University and the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Singapore. He received his PhD from The Ohio State University and completed postdoctoral training at Princeton University.

The ANU China Seminar Series is supported by the Australian Centre on China in the World at ANU College of Asia and the Pacific.

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