In a wide-ranging conversation on The Ezra Klein Show, journalist and columnist Thomas Friedman presents a compelling critique of America's current stance toward China. His argument is not a defense of China’s authoritarianism or human rights record, but a plea for the United States to adopt a rational, forward-looking strategy based on reality rather than fear, ideology, or outdated assumptions.
Friedman is deeply concerned with what he calls the “Washington consensus” on China — a bipartisan posture of automatic hostility that leaves no room for nuance or engagement. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, he notes, the aperture through which Americans view China has narrowed dramatically. Personal, business, and academic exchanges have collapsed, while rhetoric in Washington has hardened. In such a climate, understanding China has become nearly impossible, and policymaking has grown reactive and shortsighted.
Rather than clinging to a Cold War-era mentality or seeing China solely as a thief of Western ideas, Friedman urges Americans to recognize China’s genuine innovation and industrial might. Drawing from his travels, he describes an ecosystem of high-tech factories, AI-driven design labs, and state-backed R&D campuses like Huawei’s, where rapid iteration and scale are possible in ways largely unseen in the West. He illustrates this with China's dominance in electric vehicles, batteries, solar panels, and robotics — all parts of what he calls the new "industrial ecosystem" of the 21st century.
Yet America, he warns, is fighting the wrong war. Tariffs, political posturing, and cultural battles — exemplified by Trump-era tactics — fail to build the capabilities the U.S. needs to compete. Friedman mocks these approaches as unserious, arguing that the right question isn’t how to weaken China, but how to strengthen America. That means investing in research, building supply chains, leveraging alliances, and fostering domestic innovation — not isolationism.
Friedman also views the relationship through a planetary lens. He identifies three global existential challenges — AI governance, climate change, and geopolitical instability — which require collaboration between the U.S. and China, the only two powers capable of steering outcomes. In his view, “interdependence is no longer a choice; it is our condition.”
Ultimately, Friedman’s message is clear: America must stop projecting ideology and start dealing with the world as it is. Instead of fearing China's rise, the U.S. should treat it as a mirror — a reminder of what seriousness, strategic focus, and investment in the future actually look like. Whether Washington listens or doubles down on its current path may well define the century.