At present, the strategic competition between China and the United States is becoming increasingly fierce. The United States** recently called for Chinese technology companies to be blacklisted, with a special focus on China's Beidou navigation system. On January 4, the U.S.-China Special Committee on Strategic Competition sent a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen and Secretary of Defense Austin, requesting that Quectel Co., Ltd. be listed as a Chinese company that restricts the entry of U.S. capital. The United States is concerned that the Beidou navigation system will have a significant impact on China's military operations, so it has made Quectel a target of sanctions. However, the president of Quectel said that the company's products are used entirely in the civilian field and do not pose a threat to the United States. Why is the United States unusually sensitive to the Beidou navigation system? This article will provide an in-depth interpretation of the importance of the Beidou navigation system and the confrontation between China and the United States.
1. The impact of GPS system
The Global Positioning System (GPS) was originally used by the United States to locate submarines. However, the excellent performance of the GPS system has attracted global attention and has gradually become one of the four major positioning systems in the world. The Beidou navigation system began to be developed after the completion of GPS, and the first satellite was successfully launched in 2007. The completion of the Beidou navigation system has brought huge economic benefits to China. We can be self-sufficient and no longer rely on imported systems, and at the same time export the Beidou navigation system to the international market and earn a lot of profits.
2. The necessity of creating autonomous navigation capabilities
In the early days, China has shown its willingness to develop its own satellite navigation system to avoid being restricted by other countries. However, China faces enormous challenges, especially in the early days of nation-building. And in the 1990 Gulf War and the Milky Way incident, China felt the danger of relying on foreign navigation systems. This prompted China to make up its mind to vigorously develop its own navigation system to ensure that it would not be controlled by other countries in times of war and to ensure the normal movement of its troops.
1. Confrontation with the influence of thinking
The United States has always adopted a confrontational mindset and pursued the maximization of its own interests. By virtue of its hegemonic status, the United States plays a pivotal role in the world. However, China has grown and strengthened since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and the United States has realized that China has become a country in the world that has the strength to challenge its hegemony. The U.S. uses confrontation as a mindset and tries to suppress China's development, regardless of whether China really has the intention of confronting the U.S. or not. The U.S. sanctions on Quectel are an example, and the U.S. believes that the company provides technical support for China's Beidou navigation system and poses a threat to the United States.
2. The Beidou system has broken the dominance of the United States
The United States suppressed China's Beidou navigation system, not because the system posed a direct threat to the United States, but because the development of the Beidou system broke the United States' dominant position in the field of global navigation systems. China's rapid growth has made the United States nervous, and although the two countries still have gaps in many areas, China's rise has caused fear in the United States. As early as 2021, an American four-star general repeatedly reminded the United States to avoid a head-on conflict with China.
Although there is a certain gap between the Beidou navigation system and GPS, China believes that one day it will be able to surpass the United States and become the world's first. The United States has suppressed China because China's rise threatens its hegemony, and the United States has always adopted a confrontational mentality, and it is its usual method to suppress potential competitors. Although there are some differences between China and the United States, China has grown to the point of strength, and the United States is afraid of China. For China, the development of independent technology is an inevitable choice to ensure excellence and development, and China will continue to strive to catch up and surpass.