The US State Department is preparing to deliver what amounts to a geopolitical loyalty test to roughly 35 countries: pick us or pick China, but you can’t have both.
The warning, reported on August 14, 2026, tells partner nations in the US-led Pax Silica initiative that any participation in China’s World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organisation, known as WAICO, will result in exclusion from the American-led bloc.
Two blocs, one ultimatum
Pax Silica launched on December 12, 2025, at a summit in Washington, D.C. Its founding partners included Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the UK, and Australia. The EU, India, and Israel joined later.
The initiative’s core mission is supply-chain resilience. Signatories committed to coordinated investments in semiconductors and data centers, with the explicit goal of reducing dependence on concentrated supply chains, particularly those running through China.
