Chinese economists warn Beijing to prepare for decoupling from US
- Break-up of the world’s two biggest economies is gradually becoming a real possibility, academics tell symposium on the trade war
- Think tank director says it could be seen as ‘strategic blackmail’ for Washington to try to contain China’s rise
The break-up of the world’s two biggest economies was gradually becoming a real possibility as Beijing and Washington clashed over issues beyond trade and the White House sought to push China out of global value chains, according to Li Xiangyang, director of the National Institute of International Strategy, a think tank under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
“This economic decoupling is completely possible, in theory,” Li told a symposium on the trade war at Renmin University of China on Saturday.
On July 6 last year, Washington imposed the first round of punitive tariffs on US$36 billion of Chinese imports, with China retaliating by levying duties on the same amount of US goods, marking the start of their tit-for-tat tariff battle.
But the rivalry has spilled over from trade to technology and security, with some observers even warning of a “new cold war” emerging.