US on self-defeating China trade war tack, former American defence official says
- Chas Freeman says the United States made the wrong move in response to China’s economic and technology challenges
- In the long run, the US cannot outspend China on the military, he says
In an article published in the influential East Asia Forum on Sunday, former assistant secretary of defence Chas Freeman said the United States was not thinking strategically.
“Washington would be easy to spot in a game of chess. It’s the player with no plan beyond an aggressive opening. That is no strategy at all. The failure to think several moves ahead matters,” Freeman wrote in the online publication run by the Australian National University.
The former defence official and now visiting scholar at Brown University said the US erred in its decision to respond to China’s economic and technology challenges by increasing defence spending.
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“The principal challenge that China presents is not military but economic and technological. But the United States is geared only to deal with military threats,” he wrote. “China has become the antidote to the US post-Cold War enemy-deprivation syndrome and a gratifying driver of US defence spending.
“Yet, in the long run, the United States cannot outspend China militarily and cannot hope to beat it on its home ground.”
Freeman added that rather than make China an enemy, other countries wanted to accommodate China on terms that maximise their sovereignty.
“If the United States persists in confrontation, it will find itself increasingly isolated,” he wrote.
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“Given the state of US democracy, if its China policy is defined as a moral effort, most other nations will be alienated, not attracted.”
Freeman is the latest US foreign policy veteran to call for a major adjustment in Washington’s approach to Beijing.
Tariffs imposed on Chinese goods under former US president Donald Trump are still in place, as are restrictions on China’s technology companies.
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Freeman’s article was well received in Beijing, with foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying singling it out for attention on Tuesday.
“We’ve taken notice of Freeman’s article, I think he made excellent points,” Hua said.
She added that China was happy to compete with the United States but as was the case in sport, competitors should seek to improve themselves rather than limiting others.
“China never seeks to surpass the United States. Our goal is to improve ourselves, surpass ourselves and become a better China,” she said.
