https://www.scmp.com/rss/509058/feed Zhou Xiaoming is a senior fellow at the Centre for China and Globalisation in Beijing and a former deputy representative of China’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations Office in Geneva. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Zhou Xiaoming Zhou Xiaoming To justify his threat of a 100 per cent tariff on imports from China, US President Donald Trump framed China’s tightening of its export controls on rare earths as “hostile”. However, Beijing’s expanded rules are a direct and reasonable response to the Trump administration’s relentless campaign of ratcheting up restrictions on Chinese companies and exports. On September 12, just two days before US-China trade talks in Madrid, Spain, the US blacklisted 23 Chinese institutions. On September 25,... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3329905/beijings-rare-earth-export-control-regime-blowback-us-policy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3329905/beijings-rare-earth-export-control-regime-blowback-us-policy?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Oct 2025 21:30:08 +0000 Zhou Xiaoming Zhou Xiaoming In what Martin Wolf at the Financial Times called “pure gangsterism”, US President Donald Trump has extracted pledged investments of at least US$1.5 trillion from America’s trading partners. This amounts to the Marshall Plan in reverse. The scheme Washington initiated in 1947 essentially provided economic aid to Europe and later Japan. Of the US$13 billion provided, 90 per cent were grants. But in the US-Japan trade deal, seen as a political trophy for Trump, money will flow in the other... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3328264/trump-shaking-down-us-trade-partners-reverse-marshall-plan?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3328264/trump-shaking-down-us-trade-partners-reverse-marshall-plan?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Oct 2025 12:30:08 +0000 Zhou Xiaoming Zhou Xiaoming In the classic Spanish novel Don Quixote, the knight insisted on attacking windmills he had mistaken for giants, and ended up unhorsed. In real life, the European Union has increasingly and aggressively taken on China over the past few years, often at the expense of its own economic and social goals. The EU has long complained about its trade deficit with China, attributing it to a lack of market access. Yet it refuses to ratify the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) – a golden... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3326427/setting-china-adversary-eu-tilting-windmills?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3326427/setting-china-adversary-eu-tilting-windmills?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Sep 2025 12:30:10 +0000 Zhou Xiaoming Zhou Xiaoming As his new tariff regime came into force in early August, US President Donald Trump emerged as a clear victor. Largely due to the United States’ unrivalled market power, he was able to force major concessions from trading partners: zero tariff access and reduced non-tariff barriers from quite a number of countries, hundreds of billions of dollars in expected tariff revenue annually and around US$1 trillion in purchase commitments, not to mention pledged investments of at least US$1.5 trillion... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3323470/trumps-tariff-merry-go-round-destroying-global-trade-what-next?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3323470/trumps-tariff-merry-go-round-destroying-global-trade-what-next?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 29 Aug 2025 01:30:07 +0000 Zhou Xiaoming Zhou Xiaoming As European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa prepare for their summit with Chinese leaders later this month, tensions between the EU and China have only intensified. The European Union has accused China of supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine. However, China maintains that it has not provided lethal weapons to either party in the conflict and has exercised strict controls on dual-use goods exports to the warring countries. Given China’s nearly... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3316776/few-suggestions-eu-if-it-sincerely-wants-reset-china-ties?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3316776/few-suggestions-eu-if-it-sincerely-wants-reset-china-ties?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Jul 2025 12:30:07 +0000 Zhou Xiaoming Zhou Xiaoming High-level trade talks between China and the United States in Geneva, Switzerland, last month resulted in the suspension of most of the tariffs on each other. Despite that, a substantial amount of tariffs remains. While a 24 per cent duty was suspended for 90 days, both sides kept a 10 per cent tariff in place. In addition, the US retained a 20 per cent tariff imposed over what the Trump administration says is China’s role in the fentanyl crisis. How might trade negotiations between China and... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3312998/geneva-deal-cant-hide-fact-us-china-trade-war-has-no-end-sight?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3312998/geneva-deal-cant-hide-fact-us-china-trade-war-has-no-end-sight?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Jun 2025 12:30:08 +0000 Zhou Xiaoming Zhou Xiaoming I remember a story about a bear and two hunters from years ago. As the tale goes, when the bear approaches, one of the hunters prepares to run. Shocked, the second hunter asks the first, “Can you run faster than the bear?” “Well,” the first hunter replies, “I only have to run faster than you.” There is an important lesson to take from this story. US President Donald Trump has been trying as hard as his predecessor Joe Biden to isolate and contain China, albeit in a less systematic manner. The... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3309347/what-countries-aligning-trump-must-ask-themselves?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3309347/what-countries-aligning-trump-must-ask-themselves?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 May 2025 12:30:08 +0000 After US President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs on April 2, China and the European Union struck back with retaliatory tariffs. As many as 70 countries approached the US for trade talks, he said. He eventually suspended the new levies on most of his targets, with the EU pausing its tariffs in response. However, Trump increased the tariffs on goods from China, which retaliated in kind. Despite the reprieve, the world has good reason to be concerned about Trump’s tariff threats.... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3306566/countries-hoping-negotiate-away-trump-tariffs-should-think-again?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3306566/countries-hoping-negotiate-away-trump-tariffs-should-think-again?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Apr 2025 08:30:08 +0000 US President Donald Trump is waging a trade war against the world with tariffs. He has imposed a 25 per cent tariff on some imports from Mexico and Canada, a 20 per cent levy on Chinese imports, and a 25 per cent duty on imported steel and aluminium. He also plans to add a 25 per cent tariff on European goods and enact reciprocal tariffs for all US trading partners. And he has threatened to implement a 100 per cent tariff on goods from Brics countries – an alliance initially comprising Brazil,... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3303019/only-global-de-risking-us-can-stop-trumps-trade-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3303019/only-global-de-risking-us-can-stop-trumps-trade-war?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 23 Mar 2025 00:30:08 +0000 US President Donald Trump described his reciprocal tariffs as the “big one”. Although he habitually exaggerates his claims, the world could hardly afford to take this one lightly. His tariff policy agenda, which calls for imposing the same tariffs on other countries that they impose on the US, undermines the fundamental principles of the World Trade Organization (WTO), thus posing an existential threat to the multilateral trading system. The WTO’s most-favoured nation principle requires that its... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3300177/reciprocal-tariffs-are-nothing-short-attack-world-trade?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3300177/reciprocal-tariffs-are-nothing-short-attack-world-trade?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Feb 2025 12:30:09 +0000 Many in China see Washington’s determination to force Chinese company ByteDance to divest itself of TikTok as an act of robbery. But do the actions fit the crime? Towards the end of his first term in office, President Donald Trump tried unsuccessfully to dislodge the Chinese company from the United States despite two executive orders, in 2020, first to ban any transaction with ByteDance and his subsidiaries, including TikTok, and then to demand ByteDance’s divestment of TikTok’s US... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3297932/why-trump-not-tiktoks-saviour?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3297932/why-trump-not-tiktoks-saviour?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Feb 2025 21:30:08 +0000 US President Donald Trump was elected for his “Make America Great Again” (Maga) project, and he seems determined to deliver it. Maga is expected to transform America, for better or worse, in fundamental ways. But what implications does it have for the rest of the world? Trump’s territorial ambitions, a key part of the Maga agenda, offer a taste of what his grand scheme has in store for the world. In what CNN called “imperialistic land grabs”, Trump has floated ideas about annexing Canada as... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3295793/if-trump-has-his-way-maga-its-back-law-jungle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3295793/if-trump-has-his-way-maga-its-back-law-jungle?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Jan 2025 12:30:08 +0000 US president-elect Donald Trump’s announcement of 25 per cent tariffs on all products from Mexico and Canada – along with a 10 per cent tariff on top of any additional tariffs on Chinese imports – caught many off guard. Last month, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum had reassured her people that Trump’s election victory was “no cause for concern”. Trump made the pledge nearly eight weeks before he begins his second term. Clearly, he was in a rush. Such a high-handed approach could well become... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3288951/why-no-country-safe-trumps-pro-tariff-agenda?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3288951/why-no-country-safe-trumps-pro-tariff-agenda?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Dec 2024 12:30:08 +0000 Since ancient times, divide and rule has been a favoured strategy for gaining and staying in power. Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great, is said to have conquered most of Classical Greece by playing the city states against each other using diplomacy, marriage and military power. To control India, British colonists promoted divisions between the religious groups and castes. Today, divide and rule is practically Washington’s badge when it comes to international relations. As... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3271076/us-practice-divide-and-rule-could-be-ruin-us-all?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3271076/us-practice-divide-and-rule-could-be-ruin-us-all?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Jul 2024 11:30:10 +0000 In a story that took place in the Jin dynasty (266-420), an old woman was robbed. A young man came to her rescue and chased down the robber, who turned around and accused him of being the thief instead. It was late and dark and the old woman could only look from one to the other, confused. Washington, these days, appears to be acting just like the thief, trying to turn things upside down by pointing a finger at others. For a start, Washington accuses China of seeking world domination. US... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3268501/why-us-painting-china-big-bad-tech-villain?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3268501/why-us-painting-china-big-bad-tech-villain?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Jul 2024 01:30:09 +0000 May 14 was a sad day for the multilateral trading system. The United States has dealt another heavy blow to the World Trade Organization. In a sweeping decision on China tariffs, the Biden administration decided to keep intact all the duties former president Donald Trump slapped on some US$300 billion of Chinese goods. Furthermore, it has imposed new, hefty tariffs on products such as semiconductors, ship-to-shore cranes, advanced batteries, solar cells, steel and aluminium – including a... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3264905/us-tariffs-china-are-slap-face-global-trade-and-wto?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3264905/us-tariffs-china-are-slap-face-global-trade-and-wto?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Jun 2024 12:30:08 +0000 By all indications, the European Union appears determined to slap additional tariffs on electric vehicles (EVs) imported from China. Despite Chinese President Xi Jinping’s personal intervention during his visit to France this month, the bloc’s anti-subsidy investigation is in full swing. Officially launched in October to address what the EU has framed as a market distortion resulting from China’s state subsidies, the investigation is widely expected to impose more duties on Chinese EVs. These... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3262436/eu-will-lose-more-it-gains-raising-tariffs-chinese-evs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3262436/eu-will-lose-more-it-gains-raising-tariffs-chinese-evs?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 May 2024 12:30:12 +0000 A spectre is haunting Washington. It is what Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim recently described as “China-phobia”. Just as some neurotic people see ghosts in broad daylight, so American politicians watch China’s every move with suspicion and apprehension. They view Chinese products such as 5G equipment, port cranes and cars as Trojan horses, and are working hard towards a TikTok ban on national security grounds. Beneath Washington’s fear lies the perception of China as a major adversary,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/china-opinion/article/3256677/imagine-world-free-oppression-us-led-global-order?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/china-opinion/article/3256677/imagine-world-free-oppression-us-led-global-order?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Mar 2024 01:30:12 +0000 Washington and Brussels have, of late, been castigating China for what they claim is industrial overcapacity. Brussels is investigating China’s electric vehicle (EV) industry while Washington has threatened to act against China if it tries to “dump” its goods in international markets. In their attacks, Washington and Brussels define “overcapacity” as a productive capacity that exceeds domestic demand. This narrow definition would make Adam Smith turn in his grave. Exports normally happen when... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/asia/article/3254757/real-reason-us-eu-complaints-about-chinese-overcapacity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/asia/article/3254757/real-reason-us-eu-complaints-about-chinese-overcapacity?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 14 Mar 2024 21:30:14 +0000 The possible return of Donald Trump to the Oval Office has caused considerable disconcert, even fear, in Western capitals from Brussels to Ottawa and also in Tokyo. Beijing, however, appears nonplussed. It has good reason to be. To start with, the US presidential election will not substantially change America’s economic and trade policy towards China. Former president Trump seems tougher on China than incumbent Joe Biden. Trump has suggested that the US should deprive China of its “most favoured... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/united-states/article/3253288/stronger-more-confident-china-has-little-fear-trump-20?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/united-states/article/3253288/stronger-more-confident-china-has-little-fear-trump-20?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Feb 2024 21:30:16 +0000 As the world tackles climate change with a heightened sense of urgency and renewed determination following the Cop28 United Nations climate conference in Dubai, it is critically important for nations to guard against restrictive trade measures. Seemingly unrelated and thus often treated as a separate issue, trade restrictions can significantly affect global climate goals and threaten to derail the transition to a greener economy. An example of this is the European Union’s carbon border tax,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3245291/us-and-eu-trade-barriers-not-only-hurt-china-they-also-derail-climate-action?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3245291/us-and-eu-trade-barriers-not-only-hurt-china-they-also-derail-climate-action?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 18 Dec 2023 21:30:09 +0000 Time can make a huge difference. This is certainly true of the US’ stance on industrial policy. Just a few years ago, “industrial policy” was a derogatory term that Washington reserved almost exclusively for China as if it had forgotten that it was a pioneer of the practice. In the 1980s, the Reagan administration set annual ceilings for Japan’s car exports to the US, and forced Tokyo to accept rules that limited Japanese chip exports while extracting improved US access to the Japanese... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3242719/how-us-exceptional-industrial-policy-killing-globalisation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3242719/how-us-exceptional-industrial-policy-killing-globalisation?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Nov 2023 08:30:13 +0000 US President Joe Biden was at it again recently when he accused China of leaving its partners “dead in the noose” on its Belt and Road Initiative. Nowadays, his administration is at pains to counter China’s influence in the developing world. It has launched and relaunched an infrastructure funding plan for developing countries, now called the Global Investment and Infrastructure Partnership, rejoined Unesco, the UN’s heritage body, and is pushing regional economic initiatives such as the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3239874/us-should-join-china-building-better-global-south-not-hinder-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3239874/us-should-join-china-building-better-global-south-not-hinder-it?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Nov 2023 21:30:11 +0000 These days, complaining about the European Union’s trade deficit with China seems a fashionable thing to do in Brussels. China is the EU’s second-largest trading partner after the US, and bilateral trade hit an all-time high of US$847.3 billion in 2022. The same year, China had a record trade surplus of US$276.6 billion. Brussels attributes this “trade imbalance” to the lack of access to China’s market. EU trade commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis criticised China’s level of openness as not being... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3238856/blaming-china-its-trade-deficit-eu-barking-wrong-tree?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3238856/blaming-china-its-trade-deficit-eu-barking-wrong-tree?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Oct 2023 12:30:09 +0000 Towards the end of my stint as top economic diplomat at China’s Consulate-General in Sydney in May 2005, the Australia China Business Council held a farewell party in my honour. Addressing the gathering, I predicted that two-way trade between China and Australia would more than double between 2004 and 2009. My upbeat tone met with loud applause. And yet I sensed during the Q and A that some in the audience were not so optimistic. My prediction was not a wild guess. It was based on an assessment... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3235031/how-australias-albanese-can-get-back-business-usual-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3235031/how-australias-albanese-can-get-back-business-usual-china?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Sep 2023 21:30:17 +0000 Tensions between China and the United States are widely described in the West as a great power competition or geopolitical contest between the world’s largest economies. But this suggests they share equal responsibility for their fraught ties when they play distinctively different roles. Contrary to the US accusation that Beijing is responsible for the lack of communication, for instance, Washington is the real culprit. Both governments once had more than 100 bilateral mechanisms for dialogue... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3233224/calling-it-great-power-contest-us-whitewashing-its-aggression-towards-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3233224/calling-it-great-power-contest-us-whitewashing-its-aggression-towards-china?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Sep 2023 17:00:11 +0000 The decision by members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in mid-July not to take action on China’s application to join the trade pact, was disappointing and took many in China by surprise. The CPTPP operates on the principle of consensus. The existing members must give unanimous support before any other country is allowed into the trading club. It was clear before the meeting that members were divided in their positions on China’s application.... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3230475/china-joining-cptpp-will-benefit-everyone-so-why-wont-west-let-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3230475/china-joining-cptpp-will-benefit-everyone-so-why-wont-west-let-it?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Aug 2023 17:00:15 +0000 Which of the following constitutes a threat to US national security: steel, social media, port cranes or self-driving cars? The answer is: all of them, according to Washington, if they are from China. Citing national security risks, the Biden administration has retained the punitive Trump-era tariffs imposed on Chinese steel while Congress is threatening to ban TikTok. A recent bipartisan bill in the House of Representatives seeks to limit the use of foreign cranes, meaning those made in China.... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3229624/power-not-national-security-why-us-wants-keep-china-down?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3229624/power-not-national-security-why-us-wants-keep-china-down?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 02 Aug 2023 17:00:12 +0000 I remember encountering export control in action for the first time when I visited a precision instrument company in Northern Ireland in 2011. The CEO told me there was a huge unmet demand for its products in China. But for fear of being fined or even jailed for violating the British government’s export control measures, his company had to abandon the business opportunity. In the four years that followed, as the top economic and commercial diplomat at China’s embassy in London, I heard time and... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3228220/china-fed-us-sanctions-hitting-back-export-controls-and-more-could-come?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3228220/china-fed-us-sanctions-hitting-back-export-controls-and-more-could-come?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Jul 2023 16:30:11 +0000 Supply chain issues used to largely be the preserve of businesses. These days, supply chains are a priority area for intensive US government intervention. To enhance the US’ “supply chain security and resilience”, the Biden administration is doubling down on reducing what it calls “dependencies on China”. China enjoys a large global market share in several sectors, including rare earths, electrical vehicle batteries and solar panels. Yet few non-Western countries see this as a cause for concern.... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3225621/us-reshaping-global-supply-chains-ultimately-self-serving?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3225621/us-reshaping-global-supply-chains-ultimately-self-serving?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 30 Jun 2023 00:15:18 +0000 Economic coercion is not as new as some of us might think. Surfing the web for material for this commentary, I came across a United Nations document. A 1991 resolution by the UN General Assembly “calls upon developed countries to refrain from making use of their predominant position in the international economy to exercise political or economic coercion through the application of economic instruments with the purpose of inducing changes in the economic, political, commercial and social policies... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3222314/wests-fight-against-chinas-economic-coercion-misguided-and-misleading?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3222314/wests-fight-against-chinas-economic-coercion-misguided-and-misleading?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Jun 2023 17:30:16 +0000 For all the fanfare around its most recent meeting, the G7 summit in Hiroshima speaks to the group’s struggles to remain relevant and effective in coordinating solutions to major global issues. The grouping has experienced a steady decline in its share of the global economy over the decades. Its members accounted for about 63 per cent of global gross domestic product when it was founded in 1975, falling to about 52 per cent by the time of the 2008 global financial crisis and reaching 44 per cent... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3221397/irrelevant-g7-desperate-distract-world-its-own-failures-blaming-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3221397/irrelevant-g7-desperate-distract-world-its-own-failures-blaming-china?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 May 2023 00:15:10 +0000 Of late, the Biden administration appears to have started to move away from decoupling from China’s economy. On April 20, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told an audience at Johns Hopkins University that the United States does “not seek to decouple our economy from China’s” and that “a full separation of our economies would be disastrous for both countries.” A week later, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan echoed her sentiment in a speech at the Brookings Institution, stating that “we are... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3219928/us-de-risking-china-just-economic-decoupling-another-name?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3219928/us-de-risking-china-just-economic-decoupling-another-name?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 May 2023 01:15:08 +0000 I remember watching a short video about two men balanced at opposite ends of a see-saw that was somehow on the high seas. As one man with a sword moved towards the other to kill him, the see-saw tilted, throwing both men off balance – and into the sea. It was deadly foolish. Washington’s actions to effectively decouple economically from China fall into the same category. Contrary to its professed disinterest in decoupling, Washington has pushed ahead with it in a bid to isolate and contain... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3218349/all-its-protestations-us-set-decoupling-china-act-will-cause-global-economic-harm?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3218349/all-its-protestations-us-set-decoupling-china-act-will-cause-global-economic-harm?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Apr 2023 17:00:18 +0000 Amid the fighting in Ukraine, China in February released a 12-point paper outlining its position on a “political settlement” to the war. In what is seen as China’s peace plan, Beijing calls for the respect of the sovereignty of all countries, and opposes unilateral sanctions. It also proposes a ceasefire and a return to negotiations. China’s peace plan resonates in much of the world. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has criticised the US for not seeking peace, praised the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3215270/ceasefire-and-ukraines-territorial-integrity-are-not-mutually-exclusive-us-should-stop-opposing-it?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3215270/ceasefire-and-ukraines-territorial-integrity-are-not-mutually-exclusive-us-should-stop-opposing-it?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Apr 2023 22:15:09 +0000 Amid disagreements between the United States and the European Union over the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden administration has come up with a solution of sorts. In a recent interview, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen suggested that the US and the EU form “critical minerals free-trade agreements that would enable Europe to qualify as a free trade partner”. The White House is also reportedly prepared to explore the possibility with Japan and the United Kingdom. The Biden administration’s... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3213564/eu-must-not-join-us-ripping-heart-out-global-trade-system?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3213564/eu-must-not-join-us-ripping-heart-out-global-trade-system?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Mar 2023 19:30:16 +0000 Once, according to Chinese legend, there lived a county magistrate by the name of Ye Gong who loved dragons. Ye had them engraved on the columns of his house, painted on the walls, and etched on his bed. Moved by Ye’s adoration, a dragon decided to descend from the heavens to pay him a visit. However, at the first sight of the dragon at his window, Ye was almost frightened to death before running for his life. Ye has long gone, but his spirit lives on – perhaps rather surprisingly in the Biden... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3211959/if-us-not-behind-nord-stream-explosions-it-should-have-no-reason-block-un-investigation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3211959/if-us-not-behind-nord-stream-explosions-it-should-have-no-reason-block-un-investigation?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Mar 2023 17:00:09 +0000 Countless people in China had a sleepless night as outgoing US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on August 1 last year. The visit was the culmination of a series of provocations by Washington against Beijing, sending ties between the two to their lowest point in decades. Since the beginning of 2022, Washington had relentlessly waged ferocious attacks on China. On the political front, it put into effect the Uygur Forced Labor Prevention Act to substantiate... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3205110/dont-expect-us-china-relations-significantly-improve-2023?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3205110/dont-expect-us-china-relations-significantly-improve-2023?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Jan 2023 17:00:08 +0000 These days, talk of Washington’s trade war against China seems to have faded, whether from headlines or in conversation. But the tariffs that former US president Donald Trump slapped on Chinese goods continue to rack up an estimated US$40 billion in duties each year. Although largely borne by American consumers and manufacturers, these tariffs also hit Chinese imports hard. According to the Peterson Institute for International Economics, China now accounts for only 18 per cent of US goods... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3200568/under-biden-us-trade-war-china-only-likely-get-worse?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3200568/under-biden-us-trade-war-china-only-likely-get-worse?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Nov 2022 17:30:08 +0000 Washington’s Inflation Reduction Act, a US$430 billion package that offers subsidies and tax credits for US-manufactured products, is prompting countries – including America’s own allies – to cry foul. France and Germany, for example, are considering taking Uncle Sam to the World Trade Organization (WTO). However, Washington’s latest move is just another case of the US undermining the rules-based global economic order. Decades ago, the US led the creation of trade rules for the world. Now, in a... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/united-states/article/3198992/disregard-wto-shows-us-destructive-force-rules-based-global-economic-order?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/united-states/article/3198992/disregard-wto-shows-us-destructive-force-rules-based-global-economic-order?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Nov 2022 19:00:13 +0000 Over the past three decades, there has been no shortage of doomsayers on China. I met one at a seminar on China’s 18th party congress at Oxford University in 2013, who maintained that the congress was a “desperate” effort by the Communist Party to save itself from demise. Looking at Western mainstream media over the past week, I have been struck by the same pessimistic tone – though the focus has shifted to the Chinese economy. Such is its “fragile” state, analysts assert, that China has few... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3197899/doomsayers-should-think-twice-writing-chinas-economy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3197899/doomsayers-should-think-twice-writing-chinas-economy?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Nov 2022 00:30:19 +0000 “He has governed the country very well,” taxi driver Cheng Wenli said, explaining why he supported a third five-year term for Xi Jinping as general secretary of the Communist Party of China, as he drove past Zhongnanhai, the seat of the central government in Beijing. Like Cheng, most delegates to the party’s 20th National Congress, scheduled to begin on October 16, have probably made up their minds about Xi. His third term is all but certain. Like any politician, Xi has his share of detractors.... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3195656/five-more-years-xi-west-doesnt-idea-most-chinese-do?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3195656/five-more-years-xi-west-doesnt-idea-most-chinese-do?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Oct 2022 19:30:09 +0000 US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August triggered a crisis the world had not seen for years, plunging China-US relations to their nadir. Bilateral ties are entering a period of heightened tension and great uncertainty. The situation could spiral out of control in the months ahead. Is there any way to defuse the situation? For a start, it is important that both Washington and Beijing immediately stop provocations to break the vicious circle of escalating tensions. Both should... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3191367/defuse-tensions-over-taiwan-us-and-china-need-new-strategic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3191367/defuse-tensions-over-taiwan-us-and-china-need-new-strategic?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 05 Sep 2022 17:30:25 +0000 While talking with friends the other day about the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, I was asked how many countries have imposed sanctions against Russia. Soon after I began to count, I was somewhat stirred by what emerged: outside the EU, only the UK, Switzerland, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea and the Bahamas have followed the US in economically punishing Russia. Not a single country in the entire African continent, Middle East or Latin America... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3172389/western-sanctions-russia-developing-countries-wont-back-measures?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3172389/western-sanctions-russia-developing-countries-wont-back-measures?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Mar 2022 00:15:18 +0000 During a G7 meeting on February 19, US President Joe Biden announced a US$2 billion donation to the Covax Facility, the global effort to provide vaccines for poor countries, with an additional US$2 billion in funding contingent on contributions from other nations.  The move was late in coming – and perceived by many as an attempt to repair the United States’ reputation and mend fences with the rest of the world following the Donald Trump presidency. It was, nevertheless, a welcome move, giving a... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3123868/bidens-america-first-vaccine-policy-taste-things-come?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3123868/bidens-america-first-vaccine-policy-taste-things-come?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Mar 2021 18:30:09 +0000