Is the US headed toward a cyber Cold War with China?

[Commentary] Are cyberattacks, security breaches, and mounting distrust between the US and Chinese governments ushering in a new Cold War era?

Given US officials’ rhetoric and actions in recent months, it might appear that such a sustained state of political and military tensions between the two superpowers is a serious threat.

A number of events have likely precipitated Cold War fears. The disclosures by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden of dragnet government surveillance, including a revelation that the US has infiltrated the networks of China-based telecommunications company Huawei, have understandably upset the Chinese. Additionally, the increasing number of cyberattacks and security breaches in both the US and China appear to have strained relations. And considering the “mounting tensions over China’s expanding claims of control over what it argues are exclusive territories in the East and South China Seas, and over a new air defense zone,” diplomatic relations between the two countries appear further strained, according to a report from The New York Times.

While US officials are trying to fend off threats of a new Cold War, Harvard Law School scholar Noah Feldman described his belief that rather than entering a new Cold War period, the US and China are instead enmeshed in what he calls a “cool war.”

“What the US and China have in common is that each is a global superpower in a contest for geopolitical supremacy,” Feldman told Ars. “What makes it 'cool' and not cold is that we still have a strong economic partnership with China. While both sides would like to reduce their dependence on the other, neither side wants escalation.”