Rivalry between Trump’s United States and Xi’s China is rampant: from disagreements on trade tariffs, on Hong Kong and the Uighurs and, of course, the source of Covid-19.

But underlying it all is the growing tech war between these two economic superpowers, with giants like Huawei on the battlefield. For its part, China denies access to Google, Facebook, Twitter and many other American firms. It’s called ‘tech nationalism’ - both powerhouses know that global superiority in technology and innovation will be the key to future economic domination of world trade.

Central to this growing tech war are semiconductors - the cornerstone technology of the information age and key to the US-China tech war. Semiconductors are crucial for microchips which in turn are needed for making everything from smart phones to satellite weapons systems.

President Trump‘s weapons in this war have included sanctions on major Chinese companies, the goal being a global tech ‘decoupling’ which would see many nations move away from Chinese technology altogether.

Join Zeinab Badawi and a panel of experts and question askers from around the world on this edition of Global Questions. Show less