Technology split

There is an article on Financial Times, "US-China trade war risks global technology split" (https://www.ft.com/content/0e6c322e-8c4e-11e9-a1c1-51bf8f989972). I think that a technology split is totally possible, since we did see a similar split in the past. The Cold War between the US and Russia put up an iron curtain between the Western world and the Soviet Union; the US and Russia both carefully protected their technology, information from being leaked to the other country, so the two countries were developing their technology almost independently. The technology developed by the two countries was different; moreover, even when they were developing one specific item, just as fighters, their focuses were different. In addition, not only these countries had different technology development paths, their allies also followed their leaders entering these two paths. For example, China had a history of following the Soviet Union technology development path, since the access to the Soviet technology was much easier. However, once the Cold War ended, we can see that many countries which followed the Soviet Union path started to adapt the American technology. Even Russia is adapting to the American technology.

If the tension between the US and China keeps escalating, the technology exchange will decline (actually is starting to decline at the moment), without sufficient information exchange, a technology split is almost inevitable. When a technology split occurs, it will increase the technology competition between the two countries, and the two countries will also be blindfolded since they will have no information about the other's technology development progress and other important details. In addition, a technology split does not only mean different technology development, but also means the two countries may adapt to different standards. This could be a bit more problematic, once the two countries reopen themselves to each other, as it will take much longer to get back to the same track. Of course, the reunion may let the two countries inspire each other and produce greater technology innovation.