They also pointed to growing ties between the tech sector and the defence industry – including a new initiative enlisting senior tech executives to the Army Reserve – saying the “tech hawks” could step up threats against China.
Shi Bowei, a research fellow at the Zhejiang Party School, said the trend of US tech firms deepening cooperation with the defence sector was one to watch.
“Will tech leaders shift away from their traditional stance of avoiding excessive foreign entanglements and instead embrace a more assertive, interventionist posture – evolving into aggressive ‘tech hawks’ or even zealous advocates of militarism?” Shi wrote on Tuesday in American Studies, a journal published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
He also said tensions between the tech elite and the Make America Great Again camp could ultimately undermine efforts by the tech right to reshape US politics.
On China policy, he noted that most of Trump’s tech backers were pushing for continued pressure to contain Chinese technological development and for further decoupling in hi-tech sectors.