China’s C919 Jet Exposes Risks of Reliance on Western Technology Amid Trade Wars

China’s grand plan to dethrone Boeing and Airbus with its own domestically produced C919 passenger jet is encountering harsh realities that underscore a crucial lesson for American policymakers: technology-dependent ambitions without true sovereignty are vulnerable in today’s global power struggles. Why Is Beijing Struggling to Deliver on the C919 Promise? The Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) envisioned the C919 as a patriotic achievement, symbolizing China's technological progress and push for self-reliance. Yet despite state subsidies and aggressive timelines, deliveries have repeatedly fallen short—only seven jets delivered so far this year against an ambitious target of 30 by 2025. This...