The US strategy of multidomain containment and China’s counter-responses in the Indo-Pacific (2019–2025)

Type of the article: Research article

The intensifying United States-China rivalry in the Indo-Pacific has gained acute relevance for global order as strategic competition extends across military, technological, economic, and cognitive domains. This paper examines the extent and modalities of the US multidimensional strategic encirclement of China in the Indo-Pacific and analyzes China’s multidomain responses, including the PLA’s intelligentization, technological sovereignty initiatives, and economic re-sovereignization, over the period 2019–2025. The study adopts a qualitative interpretivist methodology, drawing on scholarly and primary sources, including defense doctrines, alliance frameworks such as AUKUS and QUAD, legislative instruments, and multilingual Chinese perspectives. The analysis shows that the US employs layered alliance-building, technology governance through semiconductor and export-control regimes, triangulated partnerships with actors such as Israel and India, and selective interventions in regional states, including Pakistan and the Philippines, to constrain Chinese influence. China’s countermeasures are multidimensional: advancing AI-enabled military modernization, securing strategic port access at Gwadar, Hambantota, and Ream, and reinforcing economic insulation through its Dual Circulation Strategy and yuan-based energy agreements. Results indicate that encirclement is no longer limited to geography but increasingly embedded in digital infrastructure, economic flows, and cognitive influence. The study concludes that these dynamics are accelerating a shift toward bifurcated multipolarity, marked by competing techno-security ecosystems and divergent governance norms, with significant implications for alliance cohesion, technological sovereignty, and the management of strategic escalation.

Acknowledgments
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my teachers and academic peers whose valuable insights, encouragement, and constructive discussions inspire me to enrich the quality of my work. I am especially indebted to my family – my wife and children – for their patience, understanding, and unwavering support during the long hours of research and writing. Their endurance and encouragement made this endeavor possible.