At a recent event held at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics, Kevin Rudd, the current president of the Asia Society, provided an assessment of the current state of US-China relations. Rudd, who is recognized as a scholar on China, described the relationship as being in a state of "full-blown strategic competition." According to Rudd, this rivalry is not limited to a single area but is instead "multidimensional," affecting national power and influence on a global scale.

Specifically, Rudd identified several key areas where the two nations are in direct competition, including military capabilities, trade and investment, technological development, foreign policy, and ideological influence. He emphasized that this competition is not confined to a specific region but is occurring "across the world." The remarks underscore a growing consensus among many geopolitical analysts that the friction between Washington and Beijing is structural and likely to persist for the foreseeable future. While Rudd’s assessment highlights the breadth of the tension, he framed the situation as an ongoing reality that the international community must navigate. The discussion at Harvard served to reiterate that the competition is deeply embedded in the modern global order, touching upon nearly every facet of statecraft and international interaction.