US-China AI race must strike a balance between security and openness

SCMP Tech / 4/22/2026

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Key Points

  • The opinion argues that the US-China AI race requires a careful balance between national security protections and maintaining openness to support innovation and global progress.
  • It highlights how security-driven restrictions could slow scientific collaboration and limit the availability of AI capabilities, while unchecked openness could increase risks such as misuse or strategic competition.
  • The piece suggests that policymakers should design AI governance frameworks that are targeted and proportionate rather than blanket.
  • It emphasizes that trust-building and responsible development practices can help manage rivalry without fully decoupling research and deployment.
  • The author frames the central challenge as aligning short-term security goals with long-term technological and economic interests.
The United States House Select Committee on China recently released a report on artificial intelligence. Titled “Buy What It Can, Steal What It Must: China’s Campaign to Acquire Frontier AI Capabilities”, it captures a hardening view in Washington that Beijing’s artificial intelligence rise is closely tied to both market access and security concerns. Whether fully substantiated or not, such beliefs are increasingly shaping the policy lens through which technology competition between the two...

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