https://www.scmp.com/rss/267833/feed Scott Kennedy is Senior Adviser, Freeman Chair in China Studies and director of the Project on Chinese Business and Political Economy at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Does China want a good relationship with the United States? That is a reasonable question since Beijing took until Friday to congratulate US President-elect Joe Biden on his victory. Perhaps they were waiting for the results to be fully certified and sitting US President Donald Trump to admit defeat, but it is a sign that the Chinese leadership was thinking tactically, not strategically. The bigger choice for Beijing is whether it decides to test an incoming Biden administration or offer an... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3109752/china-offering-biden-plastic-olive-branch-would-be-worse-doing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3109752/china-offering-biden-plastic-olive-branch-would-be-worse-doing?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Nov 2020 17:15:14 +0000 As tensions between the United States and China continue to escalate, some observers in Asia and elsewhere hope that a victory by former vice-president Joe Biden in the US presidential election would usher in a return to a more serene era, in which Washington and Beijing put aside their differences on security, trade and human rights to expand commerce and cooperate on global governance challenges. A new survey, “Mapping the Future of US China Policy”, just released by the Centre for Strategic... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3106234/us-china-policy-must-balance-targeted-curbs-multilateral?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3106234/us-china-policy-must-balance-targeted-curbs-multilateral?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Oct 2020 17:30:14 +0000 In May 2012, as the contest for power among China’s top political elite was heating up to see who would succeed president Hu Jintao, I went looking for insight in one of Beijing’s best bookstores, All Sage Books, which sits just outside the campus of Tsinghua University. But I found nothing of the sort. Its top 10 titles that week were from the poetry, history and calligraphy sections. The Chinese politics section was limited to the selected works of top leaders, texts of recent laws, formal... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3086507/hong-kong-stripped-its-autonomy-and-special-status-how-will-next?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3086507/hong-kong-stripped-its-autonomy-and-special-status-how-will-next?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 May 2020 17:00:07 +0000 “Made in China 2025” is part of a large complex of Chinese industrial policies that can bring damage to the world because of the scale of the Chinese economy. In carrying out these policies, China has used subsidies, limits to market access, local content requirements and distinctive standards – all policies which don’t create a level playing field in China and potentially beyond. They are deeply distortionary and discriminatory. Why does this matter? Lots of countries have had industrial... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/scott-kennedy-chinas-industrial-policies-distort-market/article/2179016?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/scott-kennedy-chinas-industrial-policies-distort-market/article/2179016?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Dec 2018 02:45:00 +0000 Just as it appeared that US-China relations had received some breathing space with a 90-day respite in new tariffs, a punch to the gut came in the form of the arrest of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou. Given Huawei’s importance as China’s most successful hi-tech company, Beijing will need to stay focused on its strategic long-term national interests. Otherwise, the US-China relationship could suffer a knockout blow from which it would be very difficult to recover.  Potentially incendiary incidents... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2178008/why-arrest-huaweis-cfo-amid-trade-war-tension?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/united-states/article/2178008/why-arrest-huaweis-cfo-amid-trade-war-tension?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Dec 2018 18:00:30 +0000 President Xi Jinping’s recent speech at the Boao Forum seemed to be a crucial opportunity for China to announce bold actions to avert a trade war with the United States.  But Xi’s offer was no more than an olive twig. His vague promises to reduce tariffs, improve the climate for foreign investors and truly protect intellectual property have all been promised repeatedly before but with little follow-through. So when US President Donald Trump’s chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow responded on... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2142260/trumps-coordinated-chaos-may-be-part-grand-strategy-one?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2142260/trumps-coordinated-chaos-may-be-part-grand-strategy-one?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Apr 2018 09:30:15 +0000 A trade war between the United States and China may help resolve their deep differences, but the fight won’t be easy. If the Trump administration proceeds without adequate preparation, the US and the global economy may be far worse off than if nothing had been done. There is no doubt that China plays unfair, damaging itself and its trading partners with discriminatory policies and growing ambitions to dominate advanced technologies. Given the nation’s size, a distorted Chinese economy means a... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2135895/five-reasons-why-trump-not-ready-trade-war-and-china-could?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2135895/five-reasons-why-trump-not-ready-trade-war-and-china-could?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 06 Mar 2018 05:45:10 +0000 On the first day of his ­recent visit to Beijing, President Donald Trump was treated to Peking opera. A common element in many such shows is moments when characters run about the stage wildly banging gongs to draw the audience’s attention, even though nothing of substance is occurring. And so went the US president’s summit with China’s Xi ­Jinping on economic and trade issues, a perfunctory display meant only to give the impression of serious ­engagement and achievement. Some American observers... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2120823/us-preparing-trade-war-china-dont-be-fooled-noise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2120823/us-preparing-trade-war-china-dont-be-fooled-noise?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Nov 2017 09:38:37 +0000