Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Despite public perceptions, Philippine ruling elites concerned with political expediency, not Chinese actors, are often the key culprits sidestepping social and environmental safeguards on infrastructure projects. Chinese players generally have accommodated these Philippine demands.
Many observers view Pakistan as a test case for China’s assertive overseas expansion plans. But sometimes, it is Chinese players who have had to adapt to Islamabad’s realities.
The EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment was born in a complex political environment but now has renewed potential to warm economic relationships between the two powers. As U.S.-China tensions rise, the EU may have taken a different route into uncharted territory.
The Biden administration is finalizing its trade and technology policy approach for the next four years, and this approach could differ noticeably from both a traditional free-trade/techno-globalist style and Trump’s “America First” brand of protectionism.
Before the Biden administration finalizes its trade and technology promotion policies, it is useful to look back at the past four years in a U.S.-Japan alliance context with a critical eye and develop an evidence-based evaluation of goals, means, and ends.
Taiwan’s prowess in high-tech manufacturing and data privacy could make Taiwan firms unsung heroes of the global competition over standard setting for emerging technologies.
China’s 2020 trade surplus increased by a quarter over the previous year and foreign reserves have hit a near-five-year high. For the whole of 2020, GDP grew 2.3 per cent, much better than the 4 per cent to 10 per cent declines for the US and euro-zone economies.
A U.S.-Taiwan trade pact would be welcome, but laying the groundwork will take time, and the two sides risk losing momentum. Several other shovel-ready economic initiatives could be ready sooner and shouldn’t be delayed.
A recent study on U.S.-China trade concludes that Trump’s trade policies cost the U.S. economy nearly a quarter million jobs. But its obsolete understanding of trade flows ends up pointing trade policymakers in the wrong direction.
To succeed in Asia, President-elect Joe Biden will need an administration that whines less, competes more, and leverages American strengths in the Asia that actually exists, not the one of its wishes, dreams, and fantasies.