Andrew Singer Talks About China
Vol. 1, Issue 7
Happy Spring Festival! The Lunar New Year this year is February 12, 2021. Particularly at a time when the world remains gripped by a deadly and disruptive pandemic, I offer wishes for a safe and happy New Year. I also have news for the Year of the Ox. My Newsletter and writing have a new online presence on substack.com. Please sign up and share with your friends and acquaintances who are interested in China and America.
China-US Relations
The temperature has been turned down over the past few weeks, but this does not mean that all that much has changed between China and the United States. And we shouldn’t expect that it would or will. This being said, communication and, dare I say, cooperation, is easier to attempt when neither party is outright screaming at the other. Most of what happens in the world takes place far from the headlines.
Tariffs and trade deals, a spider-webbed economic system, pining for renewed self-reliance, geopolitical aspirations, cultural and historical reclamation and revision, domestic security worries, the list of important considerations goes on. For both the United States and China, if not with different measures of potency. Nonetheless, there are opportunities for collaboration to our mutual benefits--for example, responding to humanitarian crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic; shoring up the broader, global economy; addressing long-term climate change; avoiding brushfires and war. Any successes, though, will require substantive changes in how each operates, in how each chooses to deal with the other and others. There is good reason to remain skeptical.
Words are important, but even then, they do not always mean what they might seem on first blush. Different frames of reference, different motives, and different audiences each play a role in how what is announced in a press conference or written in an op-ed, whether carrot or stick, are intended, not just heard and read. Pundits and politicians must parse all of the positioning, prodding, and parrying. It is vital that we know ourselves, who we are, what we want, and what we are willing to do to achieve our goals. Strategy cannot be crafted and implemented without these understandings. We may not like all of the answers or the outcomes, but at least we can then plan a reasoned course forward.
So how should we characterize the relationship between the governments of two of the most powerful nations in the world? Certainly not friends and allies, yet I would also argue not enemies. But is it as economic competitors/rivals? Strategic competitors/rivals? Cold warrior adversaries? Here again, the answer at the moment appears to be different to each side’s thinking. The answers and interplay will continue to have dramatic impacts on the populations of both countries.
A recent exchange between the new White House press secretary and the spokesperson for the PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs is illustrative:
[Biden White House press secretary Jen Psaki]: "‘We're in a serious competition with China. Strategic competition with China is a defining feature of the 21st century,’ Psaki said, criticizing China for engaging in conduct that ‘hurts American workers, blunts our technological edge, and threatens our alliances and our influence in international organizations.’"
[PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Zhao Lijian]: “‘China wants cooperation, not strategic competition,’ the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday, a day after the White House said it was looking to form a ‘new approach’ toward China. ‘Over the past few years, the Trump administration went in a very wrong direction. They regarded China as a 'strategic competitor' and even a 'threat,' and thus took erroneous actions that interfered in China's internal affairs and undermined China's interests….Both countries stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. Cooperation is the only right choice for both.’" [Source: China Macro Reporter by @Malcolm Riddell]
At the end of the day, there are choices to be made. Let’s hope they are wise.
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