China and US in new ‘cold war’ that is ‘more difficult’ than Soviet-era, says former US Ambassador to China
- Series of high-profile former US government figures painted a grim portrait of US-China relations, as 14 month trade war rumbles on
- Comments suggest souring mood in diplomatic and trade policy circles, with many expecting ‘a protracted series of on again off again conflicts’
China and the United States are locked in a “kind of cold war” that is “more difficult” to resolve than the four decade stand-off between the US and Soviet Union, according to the former American Ambassador to Beijing, Max Baucus.
“I think we're in a kind of cold war that is more insidious than the last cold war,” Baucus told an event in Hong Kong on Friday. “The last cold war was easy, with MAD – mutually assured destruction – that brought transparency. This is much more difficult, much more pervasive.”
The comments from Baucus – who was ambassador from 2014 to 2017 – were typical of the dark, pessimistic tone struck by a succession of high-profile speakers at the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong’s China Conference.
Even with negotiations ongoing in Washington this week, there were few positive signals offered by the former US government figures, indicating the sharp downturn in mood among experts in recent months.
The speakers did urge the White House to pursue engagement with China to mitigate the worst aspects of the strategic competition between the two nations. Baucus said the two countries could still try to seek cooperation in areas of mutual concern, such as climate change and North Korea.
Nevertheless, the gloomy outlook was inescapable.
Baucus said that the root of the US-China dispute is that “we do not trust each other” and professed that “I think it's very dangerous. I personally think we're sliding” towards a longer term dispute than many people imagined was possible.
His comments were echoed by Charlene Barshefsky, former US trade representative during the Clinton administration, who steered negotiations with China over its accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2001.