Are China–US Relations Escalating Into a Cold War?

A man walks among supersonic cruise missiles at the 13th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai in southern China's Guangdong Province, on Sept. 28, 2021. Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images

Commentary

General Mark Milley considered China’s alleged hypersonic weapon test comparable to the “Sputnik moment,” a pivotal event during the Cold War with the Soviet Union. His remark signals an escalation in military competition between the two countries, and the potential existence of a China–U.S. cold war. Will the United States respond to this strategic national security crisis at a new level?

China Develops Hypersonic Missiles

On Oct. 27, Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Bloomberg that the Chinese military had recently conducted a test of a hypersonic weapon system into space. Milley said that it is a “very significant technological event,” very close to the “Sputnik moment,” and “has all our attention.”