1、 Introduction

In recent years, technological competition has become the core of the US strategy towards China. The United States continues the practice of controlling technology exports and talent from socialist countries during the Cold War, and implements strategic trade policies towards countries such as Japan that are challenging. Currently, the United States has reactivated and strengthened measures such as export controls, talent restrictions, and high-tech investment controls, while competing with China in the field of technical standards. Technical standards ensure the interoperability and reliability of technology and related products, becoming an important aspect of US technology competition with China. The US government regards China's progress in the field of technical standards as a serious challenge. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stressed that in order to counter China's "technological authoritarianism", the US must develop standards and norms for emerging technologies. Technical standards have become a focus of competition for international rule making power, and industries related to digital technology such as next-generation mobile communications, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things have become the main arena for competition among major digital powers. This article aims to explore the reasons why technical standards have become an important dimension of the US strategy towards China, the measures taken by the US to compete in technical standards with China, and the practical challenges faced.

2、 The Motivation for US Technical Standard Competition with China

The main reasons for the competition in technology standards between the United States and China involve three aspects: protecting American economic interests, safeguarding American national security, and upholding American values. In terms of economic benefits, technical standards are crucial for modern industrial economy, as developers can gain a "first mover" advantage, such as obtaining licensing fees through standard essential patents (SEPs) and forcing competitors to bear the cost of conversion. American high-tech companies rely on the development and leadership of technical standards, especially in the fields of information technology and communication. The progress in the field of Chinese technical standards is seen as a challenge to the economic interests of the United States, which is concerned about losing patent fee income and enhancing the competitiveness of Chinese products.

3、 Measures taken by the United States to compete in technical standards with China

The measures taken by the United States to compete with China in terms of technical standards mainly include three aspects: discourse offensive, institutional reform, and alliance formation. In terms of discourse offensive, the United States restricts China's standardization capabilities by tarnishing its image and denigrating its system, linking Chinese technological standards with "digital authoritarianism" and preventing them from gaining widespread international recognition. In terms of institutional reform, the United States has increased its government intervention in the field of technical standards. Through policy documents such as the "National Strategy for Key and Emerging Technology Standards in the United States" report and the "Chip and Science Act," the government's role in technical standard setting has been strengthened, and support for the private sector and American influence in international standardization organizations have been enhanced. In terms of alliance formation, the United States uses common values as a link to cooperate with allies and partner countries to maintain standard hegemony and technological barriers, and excludes China from the international standard system. The United States strengthens technical standard cooperation with its allies through multilateral institutional frameworks, the establishment of new bilateral and multilateral technical standard coordination mechanisms, and the development of exclusive technical standards in key technological fields, in order to jointly counter the development of China's technological strength.

4、 The challenges faced by the United States in competing for technical standards with China

The United States faces challenges in the competition for technical standards with China, including the limits of government intervention and differences with allies in the development of technical standards. Although the United States has increased government intervention to compete with China, it is limited by its non-governmental standard setting model and needs to seek a balance between the government and the private sector. There are doubts in the United States about excessive government intervention in the field of technical standards, fearing that it may harm private sector competition and American interests. At the same time, there are differences between the United States and its allies in the development of technical standards, especially in the competition for dominance of technical standards between the two countries. The EU pursues strategic autonomy and has launched the "EU Standardization Strategy" to enhance global competitiveness, while also breaking away from the influence of the United States in the development of technical standards. Although there is a technical standard cooperation mechanism between the United States and Europe, the competition for dominance has constrained the effectiveness of cooperation. The EU holds a contradictory attitude towards the competition of technical standards with China, mainly due to economic considerations, and will not fully follow the United States in suppressing China.

conclusion

The importance of technical standards in the development of emerging industries and technological revolutions was emphasized, and it was pointed out that the United States, through the "National Strategy for Key and Emerging Technology Standards in the United States" report, seeks to have long-term rule making power in key and emerging technology fields, and competition for technical standards with China may continue to intensify. The United States will gather consensus from all sectors, exaggerate the challenges of Chinese technology standards, and build an exclusive technology standard alliance with values as the link. China needs to maintain strategic concentration, actively defuse the US discourse offensive, promote the construction of Chinese discourse and narrative system, firmly implement China's standardization strategy, build a modern standard governance system, improve technological innovation capability and standardization level, promote international standardization work, expand standardization cooperation with other countries, enhance the role of the "the Belt and Road" initiative in the internationalization of Chinese standards, and contribute Chinese wisdom and solutions to the construction of the international standard system.