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US-China relations
Opinion

Four reasons why Trump will learn a Chinese lesson on how isolationism never works

Edward Tse says the incoming US president, for all his anti-China bluster, must take heed of deep mutual ties and the intertwined nature of their businesses

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Edward Tse says the incoming US president, for all his anti-China bluster, must take heed of deep mutual ties and the intertwined nature of their businesses
Edward Tse
It has taken China decades to build up the clustering capabilities around the country that have made it the world’s manufacturing hub. Matching that may be a tall order for the US. Illustration: Craig Stephens
It has taken China decades to build up the clustering capabilities around the country that have made it the world’s manufacturing hub. Matching that may be a tall order for the US. Illustration: Craig Stephens
Donald Trump’s election as the next US president is generating a lot of speculation about US-China relations, especially in investment and trade. People are wondering what the implications will be for both Chinese and US companies.

We can look at this situation in several ways.

First, isolationism can never generate sustainable growth for any country. History has proven this over and over again. The Chinese learned this the hard way in the past.

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After the completion of Zheng He’s “expeditions to the South Seas”, the Ming dynasty closed off China from the rest of the world. This became the starting point for China’s centuries-long decline. Ironically, while contemporary China continues to open up, Trump is advocating closing off the US, the nation that gave birth to the modern global open trade system.
A magazine featuring a cover story about US President-elect Donald Trump at a news stand in Beijing on November 23. Photo: AFP
A magazine featuring a cover story about US President-elect Donald Trump at a news stand in Beijing on November 23. Photo: AFP

Study: US-China investment ties are bigger and deeper than anyone thought

Second, while the US is still the largest economy in the world (25 per cent of the world’s GDP), it has less than 5 per cent of the world’s population. China has 15 per cent of the world’s GDP but more than 18 per cent of its population, and is taking an increasingly prominent leadership role. China has become the world’s largest trading nation and is likely to remain so regardless of Trump’s trade policies with Beijing.

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