A tough-talking former US envoy says Beijing has little time left to change its policies and avert economic warfare
Former American trade representative Charlene Barshefsky predicted yesterday that China and the US are heading towards an explosive collision.
Using unusually frank language, Ms Barshefsky stunned some delegates at the Boao Forum for Asia with a frank assessment of relations.
'Though my luncheon speech is titled 'China-US Relations: Challenges and Co-operation', I want to drop the co-operation part and focus on the challenges because I believe the challenges are considerable,' she said.
China's rapid emergence on the global stage has alarmed politicians in the US at a time when the American economy is facing the most dramatic job losses since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
US politicians see China becoming the world's manufacturing base, snatching market share away from US hi-tech companies.
Ms Barshefsky said: 'This places China in the centre of trade policy debates for Congress and next year's presidential campaign. It also, perhaps even more importantly, creates the elements for a debate on trade and economic relations with China, allegations of mercantilist practices, and threats to US competitiveness comparable to that over trade with Japan in the 1980s.'
