Opinion: The Doomsday Scenario of U.S.-China Financial Decoupling

As a broader decoupling between the U.S. and China is underway, terms from the military have entered the financial lexicon, signaling a widening rift between both nations.

“Weaponizing financial networks,” referring to the imposition of financial sanctions by the U.S. to take hold of critical chokepoints in the financial architecture, to allusions of the “nuclear option” that threaten excommunication from the U.S. dollar-dominated SWIFT messaging system, are now frequently bantered about. The hardening rhetoric marks a notable shift for the financial sector, which up to this point has stood as a haven of cooperation, fostering meaningful collaboration rather than accentuating a broader systemic rivalry.