Political debate is often couched in terms of principle. But the strongest argument against the US fighting a technology war with China has little to do with right and wrong. It is simply that the US may well lose.
Washington, to be sure, has cause to feel aggrieved. It has signed several bilateral agreements with Beijing since the early 1990s to protect American intellectual property in China, only for each one to be violated in spectacular fashion by Chinese actors.
For decades, Chinese shopping malls did a roaring trade in fake Nike shoes, counterfeit Apple iPhones and other ripped-off US brands, while commercial and trade secrets were also stolen. The Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property estimated that in 2015 alone, US losses were worth up to $540bn — more than the entire US trade deficit with China.