China’s Long and Winding Road in Global Cyberspace: Great Power Relationships or Common Destiny?

Abstract

This paper chronicles two distinct facets of China's growing engagement with the outside world in the digital sphere. On the one hand, it examines how China has attempted to implement its stated policy of building a "community of common destiny in cyberspace. Focusing particularly on the Digital Silk Road, it argues that this process is highly fragmented and complex. On the other hand, it reviews the deepening of technology-related tensions between China and the United States, outlining the difficulties Beijing needs to navigate in its drive to become a first-tier technology power in the light of escalating pushback from Washington.