The Strategic Landscape of Global Digital Geopolitical Competition and Its Implications

The return of geostrategic thinking has brought about profound impact on major country relations in digital space， accelerating the advent of the era of global digital geopolitics. As humans created digital technologies and proposed digital sovereignty to regulate their development， global digital geopolitics has further elevated the competition on digital technology to a more strategic position. There is an intense interaction between global digital geopolitical dynamics， the digital geostrategies of major countries and the adjustment of the international landscape， which will bring new changes to the international relations.

The Emergence of Global Digital Geopolitical Competition

Geostrategic thinking is reshaping the future of digital space. The game between major countries on digital geostrategy has already kicked off. As the world’s most important digital power， the United States has basically completed its digital geostrategic layout. It is the established and hegemonic power in global digital geopolitics. Its geopolitical thinking has a profound bearing on both the international policies and domestic policies of various countries on digital technology. The rise of Asia is a major change in digital geopolitics compared to traditional geopolitics as China， Japan， the ROK， India and ASEAN all have pivotal positions in the global digital technology system. On top of this， digital powers such as the European Union and Russia， as well as some regional digital powers， are gradually forming their own geostrategies， contributing to the establishment of a global digital geopolitical system.

First， the US is speeding up its digital geostrategy layout， triggering shocks in the global digital space. The geostrategic thinking is particularly evident in the Biden administration’s digital strategy. The Biden administration has repeatedly emphasized the importance of digital technology for US national security and global leadership in a series of strategic documents， laws and regulations， explicitly identifying its dominance in digital technology fields such as artificial intelligence， quantum technology and block chain as strategic pillars of digital geopolitics.

At present， the US’s international digital geostrategic layout has been basically completed， which mainly includes three aspects. First， China， Russia， the DPRK and Iran are listed as its clear digital geostrategic competitors， among which China is the only country capable of shaking the US digital hegemony. Therefore， the US attempts to use whole-of-government and society-wide means to suppress China in the field of digital technology. Second， a system of digital technology-related allies has been widely established. Focusing on ideology and national security， the US has established several digital ally systems involving different digital technologies and different strategic objectives in the areas of chips， artificial intelligence， cyber security， digital economy， and cross-border data. Third， in order to maintain the absolute security of its own digital geography， the US attempts to reshape the supply chain system of global digital technology with it as the center.

Second， Asia has developed into an essential arena for competition in global digital geopolitics. On the one hand， Asia as a whole already has all the important elements of the digital space. In the digital space， computility， algorithms， and data are the core indicators of digital technology. Japan， the ROK， and China’s Taiwan have complete chip manufacturing technologies and control more than half of the global chip supply chain. China has a large number of Internet platform companies that have accumulated certain algorithmic advantages. China， India and ASEAN have a large user base that generates massive amounts of data. At the same time， Europe， which occupies a central position in traditional geopolitics， is gradually declining in importance in the field of digital technology. As a result， Asia is gradually replacing Europe as the center of the global digital geopolitical landscape.

Therefore， digital geopolitics in Asia is inevitably influenced by the traditional geopolitical landscape. The US is increasingly competing for digital geopolitical power in Asia. First， in the field of computility， the US is vigorously promoting the establishment of the Chip 4 between the US， Japan， the ROK and China’s Taiwan， with the intention of severing the supply chain system of chips in Asia. As the US continues to exert pressure， the Japanese government announced that it would stop exporting high-end photoresists to China. Second， the US continues to enhance its cooperation with India in the digital space， instigating India’s “ban” on Chinese Internet companies and thus blocking the road to future cooperation between the two digital powers. With the advancement of the “Indo-Pacific Strategy”， India’s ban on Chinese Internet companies basically cuts off the path of future cooperation between China and India in the fields of computility， algorithms， and data. Third， it is encircling China in terms of cyber security and data security. The US continues to tarnish China’s international image in the field of cyber security， and deepen its cooperation with India， Japan， the ROK and China’s Taiwan in cyber security， which directly targets China. In this way， cyber security and data security have become a priority in the field of digital geopolitics in countries and regions in Asia， and interregional digital economic cooperation has given way to confrontation in cyber security. In short， with the intervention of the US digital geostrategy and the coordination of some countries and regions， digital geopolitics in Asia is on the verge of “Balkanization”.