China Rejects U.S. AI “Choose Sides” Push as Pax Silica and WAICO Compete for Partners

China has rejected a reported U.S. effort to make 35 countries choose between Washington’s Pax Silica initiative and Beijing’s World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO). Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said China opposes taking sides and forming camps over AI, and called for respect for each country’s “digital sovereignty.”

The immediate dispute concerns a reported State Department draft letter. Reuters reported that the letter was intended for countries that signed the U.S. “AI Opportunity Statement” in June and warned that joining a competing Beijing-led framework could exclude them from the U.S.-led coalition. The document reportedly described Pax Silica membership as a commitment rather than a symbolic subscription.

What the two AI coalitions are for

Pax Silica: securing the inputs behind AI

Pax Silica is the U.S.-led grouping. Its reported focus is cooperation among partners on the resources and technologies that determine AI capacity, including advanced models, semiconductors and critical minerals.

That makes the initiative more than a diplomatic statement. It is also a framework for coordinating access to strategic parts of the AI ecosystem and for building supply-chain relationships among countries Washington considers trusted partners. Reporting has identified Japan, Australia and South Korea among the countries associated with the initiative.

The reported U.S. message is that countries cannot simultaneously belong to Pax Silica and participate in rival initiatives whose expectations conflict with it. However, the available reporting describes a draft letter and a planned warning—not a completed policy with clearly specified penalties for every form of cooperation with China.

WAICO: China’s Shanghai-based alternative

WAICO was established in Shanghai on July 16 as an independent intergovernmental organization headquartered in the city. Its stated goals include international AI cooperation and global governance, with an emphasis on ensuring that AI develops safely, fairly and for public benefit. Twenty-nine countries signed the founding agreement at its establishment.

China later said that the organization had 38 founding members by mid-August, creating a distinction between the 29 governments reported as signatories to the initial agreement and the larger membership figure subsequently announced by Chinese officials.

WAICO’s early membership is concentrated among Global South and non-Western states. Reporting names Russia, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia, Malaysia and Pakistan among its members, and notes that no major Western democracies were among the initial founders.

Why Washington is trying to limit China’s AI access

The reported U.S. strategy is aimed at preventing China from obtaining dependable access to strategic AI inputs through partner countries and shared technology ecosystems. The draft specifically connects Pax Silica to AI models, chips and critical minerals.

Control over those inputs can affect more than commercial competitiveness. Semiconductor access supports advanced computing; models and related infrastructure shape who can build and deploy AI systems; and critical minerals underpin parts of the hardware supply chain. By organizing cooperation around these resources, Washington is seeking to reduce the possibility that China can use international partnerships and supply-chain access to expand its technological, economic or security influence.

The evidence available here supports the supply-chain and technology-security rationale. It does not establish that the reported draft would automatically impose a specific chip, cloud or investment penalty on every country that joined WAICO. That distinction matters: the confirmed element is the reported exclusion threat from the Pax Silica framework, while the exact operational consequences remain unclear.

How “digital sovereignty” reframes the dispute

China’s response shifts the argument away from a simple choice between Washington and Beijing. In Beijing’s framing, each country should retain the right to select its technology partners, rules and development path according to its national conditions and needs.

That language is particularly relevant to developing countries, which may want Chinese infrastructure or cooperation while also maintaining access to U.S. markets, investment, chips or technical partnerships. A forced choice can therefore be presented not as a neutral security measure, but as an attempt to turn access to technology into political discipline.

China has used similar language in its broader digital-governance position, calling for respect for digital sovereignty, inclusive development and opposition to technological blockades. The appeal is straightforward: governments should be able to participate in multiple forms of cooperation without surrendering control over their national technology strategies.

The contradiction at the center of the rivalry

Beijing’s argument against bloc confrontation does not mean the competition is disappearing. WAICO is a China-sponsored institution that can give Beijing greater influence over AI governance, standards and technology relationships, even as it presents itself as inclusive and development-oriented. Analysts have described its membership as largely non-Western and centered on the Global South.

That creates the central tension. Washington is using coalition access and strategic supply chains to encourage alignment. China is using sovereignty, inclusion and development cooperation to challenge the idea that countries must align. Both approaches compete for influence over the same governments and over the rules that will shape AI’s next phase.

For the 35 signatories, the practical question is not only which framework offers better AI cooperation. It is whether participation in a U.S.-led supply-chain coalition can remain compatible with a China-backed governance organization—and how much autonomy each country retains if the answer is no.