china

Why China will emerge from COVID-19 stronger than the U.S.

By Tommy Flemm 1 year ago

As COVID-19 cases hit new highs in the U.S., it’s clear this scourge isn’t going away anytime soon. Besides all the short and medium term issues, another point to consider is the disease’s impact on bigger trends. 

The coronavirus’ effect on the digital revolution for instance has been much discussed—basically the pandemic serves as an accelerant—Exhibit A being the fortunes of the FANG companies and their ilk. Much less recognized though is how the pandemic is reshaping another mega-trend, that being the rise of China and more particular to us, our relationship with the Chinese.

It’s a complicated scenario because there’s the effect of COVID on China’s economic growth and ambitions, mixed in with an on-going trade war, plus President Trump’s campaign rhetoric. Teasing this out is tricky, but bottom line: I think that China is going to end up in better shape than the U.S. after COVID.

First some

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Trump would be foolish to start another bruising trade war with China: expert

By Tommy Flemm 1 year ago

President Trump may have no choice but to play ball with China on the trade front — his re-election come November could hinge on it.

“Yes it probably does largely because President Trump wants to keep it,” said well-known China expert Gordon Chang on Yahoo Finance’s The First Trade on whether the trade deal between the two countries would survive into year end. For Trump, it’s more important to keep his base happy into the election as opposed to igniting another trade war with China, suggests Chang.

“Also you have powerful constituents that want to keep it. The farmers, of course, and manufacturers. China has been meeting its commitments to buy manufactured goods until the Hawaii meeting between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the counsel. So this is something where you have people in the U.S. who want this deal in place,” Chang added.

U.S.-China trade relations — which

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China isn’t helping Trump win reelection, as Bolton’s book suggests

By Tommy Flemm 1 year ago

If it’s true that President Trump asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to help him get reelected in November, he’s not getting the boost he hoped for.

In John Bolton’s new book, the former national security adviser writes that in June 2019, at a meeting in Japan, Trump asked Xi to buy more U.S. wheat and soybeans so farm-state voters would support Trump’s reelection bid. That was in the middle of Trump’s trade dispute with China, when he was raising tariffs on Chinese imports while seeking various trade concessions. China sharply curtailed U.S. agriculture purchases during the trade dispute, in retaliation for Trump’s tariffs.

The final result was a “phase one” trade deal in January, with China pledging to buy $200 billion more in U.S. farm, manufacturing and energy products this year and next than it did in 2017, the baseline year. Trump obviously hoped for a surge in

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Fact or fiction? Assessing Team Trump’s claims about Biden and China

By Tommy Flemm 1 year ago

As the head-to-head matchup between Donald Trump and Joe Biden takes shape, the president and his allies have unleashed a range of charges about Biden’s record on China.

They’ve leveled a series of charges – many of which they recently cut into a television advertisement – and have even tried to start a #BeijingBiden hashtag.

In an interview with Yahoo Finance Trump economic advisor Peter Navarro added a few more claims during the wide-ranging interview. 

Many of the statements from Navarro and his colleagues are not backed up by the facts or lack crucial context.

The move is part of a strategy shift by Trump and his allies to run against China and its handling of the coronavirus crisis just months after touting the Phase 1 trade deal. Senate Republicans are taking a similar tack.

A screengrab from a recent Trumnp campaign advertisement attacking Joe Biden over his record
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A Democrat’s plan for changing the relationship with China after Trump

By Tommy Flemm 1 year ago

Representative Tom Malinowski represents New Jersey’s 7th District in Congress, but before that he served as an assistant secretary of state in the Obama administration and in the National Security Council during the Clinton administration.

He’s emerged as a leading voice on how Washington might shift its relationship with China in the coming years with a possible Democratic administration.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked former Vice President Joe Biden as someone who would give in to China. Malinowski told Yahoo Finance he aims to flip the perception that Democrats wouldn’t stand up to China.

“I actually would be tougher, and hope that Joe Biden would be tougher,” he said during an appearance Wednesday on Yahoo Finance’s “On the Move.”

Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J., during a hearing in 2019. (Tom William/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

On trade, Malinowski says he agrees with Trump. “We needed to take on

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