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Yao Yang: Beware of Vested Interests in US-China Decoupling

Aug 19-2019   



US-China decoupling rings a bell with some hardcore conservatives in the US as well as some people in China who eye none other than the immense investment that the government might be forced to pour into high-tech R&D. Serious and open discussions must be conducted to avoid mistakes, cautioned Prof. Yao Yang, Dean of NSD. He made the remarks with some leading Chinese media.

 

For a start, he suggested treating the trade war as a normal blip in trade relations between countries. It hasn’t got so serious as to affect China’s modernization drive. Secondly, it’s wise not to view all groups and governments in the US as one big common-interest group, for they are not. Thirdly, an open and integrating world makes for the optimal environment for China’s technological advancements.

 

What Donald Trump really cares about is not China’s reforms or future, but rather forcing China to buy more US goods. He demands national treatment for US companies in China due to pressures from US businesses, which jump on the bandwagon in the hope of gaining more in China. But viewed from another angle, they are the cohesive and keystone of the bilateral relationships. The rather fast turn in Huawei case has proved just that.

 

China and the US are rivals in certain sense, yet peaceful rivalry is achievable. China should actively participate in and create multi-lateral mechanisms to offset pressures from the US. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a good example. Can’t the Belt and Road Initiative be another? More should be learned from OCED and WTO.

 

In addition, China should learn to tap its own traditional cultures and philosophies for interpreting its institutions so as to make them more comprehensible and acceptable by the rest of the world. The ultimate goal of competitions is integration, which is what keeps the Chinese civilization survive and thrive for thousands of years, and not the western way of conquest.

Yao Yang: Beware of Vested Interests in US-China Decoupling

Aug 19-2019   



US-China decoupling rings a bell with some hardcore conservatives in the US as well as some people in China who eye none other than the immense investment that the government might be forced to pour into high-tech R&D. Serious and open discussions must be conducted to avoid mistakes, cautioned Prof. Yao Yang, Dean of NSD. He made the remarks with some leading Chinese media.

 

For a start, he suggested treating the trade war as a normal blip in trade relations between countries. It hasn’t got so serious as to affect China’s modernization drive. Secondly, it’s wise not to view all groups and governments in the US as one big common-interest group, for they are not. Thirdly, an open and integrating world makes for the optimal environment for China’s technological advancements.

 

What Donald Trump really cares about is not China’s reforms or future, but rather forcing China to buy more US goods. He demands national treatment for US companies in China due to pressures from US businesses, which jump on the bandwagon in the hope of gaining more in China. But viewed from another angle, they are the cohesive and keystone of the bilateral relationships. The rather fast turn in Huawei case has proved just that.

 

China and the US are rivals in certain sense, yet peaceful rivalry is achievable. China should actively participate in and create multi-lateral mechanisms to offset pressures from the US. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a good example. Can’t the Belt and Road Initiative be another? More should be learned from OCED and WTO.

 

In addition, China should learn to tap its own traditional cultures and philosophies for interpreting its institutions so as to make them more comprehensible and acceptable by the rest of the world. The ultimate goal of competitions is integration, which is what keeps the Chinese civilization survive and thrive for thousands of years, and not the western way of conquest.