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Trump’s decoupling push only forces China to build its own sphere of influence
- The no-win situation of ‘one world, two systems’ looms as Trump’s aggression forces Beijing to ring-fence its tech, economic and military gains, further incurring US wrath
- This is a blow to globalisation and universal standards
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President Donald Trump’s “stop the world, I want to get off” antics continue as he talks about completely decoupling the United States from China. This is a dangerously simplistic notion, given the interdependent nature nowadays of the component nations and parts of the global economy.
What he fails to realise is that, rather than simply achieving decoupling, he is providing the impetus for the creation of a “one world, two systems” situation when it comes to global economic governance. This can only lead to diminished US influence rather than restoring American “greatness”.
It is also creating a situation that will complicate life for global companies and the corporate sector in general where exports are concerned. In the same way that globalisation is retreating before Trump’s onslaught, so too are hopes of achieving universal standards.
He should be pushing US engagement rather than divorce if he hopes to retain America’s position as an economic power, even at its current level. As is the case with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Brexit, Trump wants to opt out rather than adjust to and reform from within.
As Hung Tran, a senior economist and official with experience in various international organisations, noted in a recent paper at the Atlantic Council (where he is a senior non-resident fellow), China has, in the words of the European Union, emerged as a “systemic rival [to the US] promoting alternative models of governance”.
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Donald Trump again threatens to scale back US economic ties with China
Donald Trump again threatens to scale back US economic ties with China
This trend first became apparent years ago when China launched the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The move put the world on notice that China wanted a bigger role in shaping multilateral development, as Xing Yuqing a senior Chinese academic, pointed out to me at the time.
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