澳门六合彩

Over the past three years, there has been no better guide to the unfolding Sino-U.S. economic competition than the reporting of Bob Davis and Lingling Wei of the Wall Street Journal. Their new book, Superpower Showdown: How the Battle Between Trump and Xi Threatens a New Cold War, traces the historical development of the Trade War and offers detailed analysis of the personalities, political conflicts, and fraught negotiations that resulted in a 鈥淧hase One Deal.鈥�

On June 10, 澳门六合彩 hosted听the virtual launch of their book and a discussion of the meaning of the trade war for post COVID U.S.-China relations.

To Pre-order the book, .

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Selected Quotes

Bob Davis

鈥淚 think the best way to think about the phase one deal is as a truce in a trade war...it was unlikely, to say the least, that they [China] would ever meet the purchase targets. With coronavirus and demand plummeting in China, I think it鈥檚 basically inconceivable.鈥�

鈥淎re the complaints about China legit? Yeah, sure they鈥檙e legitimate. I mean, the, one thing that this administration did, I think, well is focus on some of the practices that have gone on in China for quite some time...on the other hand, though, it鈥檚 easy to blame China, right? I mean that also gives the U.S. administration, or the U.S. government at large, not just the federal government, an excuse not to do the things they really need to do.鈥�

鈥淚 think what鈥檚 happened is that we鈥檝e fallen, I mean it鈥檚 just sort of charge and counter-charge, particularly during the trade war but now afterwards with coronavirus, particularly with coronavirus this sort of, you know amazing charges that go back and forth across the pacific and you see China in the American public eye as, you know enemy number one.鈥�

鈥淯.S. companies are too dug into China and need China, you know, so much that I mean giving up the China market, short of an actual war which would be a kind of doomsday scenario, short of an actual war just isn鈥檛 going to happen. But in terms of disengaging, not working together, making it difficult for both sides to invest in the other, I think that鈥檚 pretty baked into the cake at this point.鈥�

鈥淣o I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 a phase two [trade deal]. I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 a chance for a phase two, even the beginning of talks for a phase two until after the [2020 Presidential] election.鈥�

鈥淭his is one of the most important relationships in the world. The U.S.-China relationship is probably the story of the, at least the first half of the 21st [sic] century.鈥�

Lingling Wei

鈥淚nitially during the Trade War, actually a lot of people in China thought it was a good thing. This stepped-up U.S. pressure on Beijing could help push forward some much-needed reforms. China鈥檚 industrial policy has resulted in a lot of waste in China鈥檚 system, and the preference for preferential treatment for SOEs has significantly squeezed the private sector. It鈥檚 not conducive to productivity growth. All those complaints and intellectual property theft are longstanding issues not just faced by American companies, but also faced by private businesses in China.鈥澨�

鈥淎long the way, the attitudes and [Chinese people鈥檚] views have really soured of what the U.S. is after and has taken away the focus that should be on the core issues. It has become very distracting. This narrative containing China鈥檚 rise has started to become really entrenched in many people鈥檚 minds...The joke is... that only two old men can save China鈥攐ne is already dead, which is Deng Xiaoping, and the other is Donald Trump. So the expectations at the time were so high.鈥�

鈥淚n the previous administrations in China, there were feelings that probably, the leadership was too deferential to Americans and conceded too much to the Americans. Even today, people would still criticize Premier Zhu Rongji for having negotiated the deal with the U.S. that paved the way for the 2001 WTO entry and felt like he gave up too much. Now that China has risen and arrived, China has every right to hit back at the U.S. when it throws a punch.鈥�

鈥淎t the very top, you already have a leader who has set the tone for what he wants to accomplish for negotiations, so all the bickering lower down, internally, is more technical. It鈥檚 not like you have a very clear group of reformers and a very clear group of nationalists bickering over fundamental issues. They鈥檙e really bickering over 鈥淪hould we give America 51 percent or 55 percent?鈥澨�

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