The Greek historian Thucydides once pointed out that “It was the rise of Athens, and the fear that this instilled in Sparta, that made war inevitable” between the two historic rivals.
Those words carry new resonance more than 2,000 years later in the growing rivalry between the U.S. and China, leading some U.S. scholars to predict the significant likelihood of war as a great power's position is threatened by a rising new power, giving rise to the phrase “Thucydides Trap.”
The constant tug-of-war between China and the U.S. has yet to trigger an actual war just yet. But successive swipes by the U.S. under various pretexts are taking a toll on China’s tech sector, each time drawing loud objections from Beijing. And concerns are growing that Lenovo Group Ltd. (0992.HK), one of China’s biggest high-tech success stories, could soon become the latest target, after publication of a recent article drawing attention to national security risks.