Chapter 48 reverse hostility towards China

The success of American companies and multinational corporations in China has, to a certain extent, reversed the hostile attitude of the American people towards China.Good relations with China have benefited American companies, and while those companies have grown richer, millions of Americans are still unhappy with China's development.Chinese consumers, like Westerners, like to pursue brands, but this is not regarded as progress by society, but as a sign of spiritual emptiness. The hostility of some Americans toward China has transcended party and ideological boundaries.Conservatives and Republicans alike worry about China's increasing military spending, its tough stance on Taiwan, and the Communist Party's superior leadership.Liberals and Democrats have always voiced opposition over labor conditions in Chinese factories, human rights records and trade protections.When the U.S. Congress failed to pass a retaliatory tariff proposal against China, some representatives continued to criticize China through rhetoric.This wave of condemnation of China became more pronounced after Democrats won the midterm elections in 2006 and regained power in the Senate.

The appointment of Henry Paulson as U.S. Treasury Secretary in mid-2006 meant that the U.S. began a renewed effort to establish a constructive dialogue with China and discuss issues of mutual interest.As the leader of Goldman Sachs Investment Group, Paulson is the main advocate for Goldman Sachs Investment Group to develop business in China.He has come to China many times and regards China as a future partner.The first thing he did after he took office was to establish a formal "Sino-US Strategic Economic Dialogue" with China. He would meet with then Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi every six months to exchange views on issues of common concern to both China and the US.After President Bush Jr. and President Hu Jintao issued a formal statement on the strategic dialogue, Paulson expressed his opinion: "The relationship between China and the United States is the most important bilateral relationship in the world." The leaders of the two countries Regular high-level meetings can help resolve disputes between the two countries, and can also provide U.S. officials with a channel for communication with China.The United States believes that China has unfair competition in trade and economic activities.For China, Chinese leaders see high-level dialogue with the United States as an opportunity for the superpower to reacquaint itself with itself.China will not obey the orders of the United States, and must conduct dialogue with the United States on an equal basis.

Regular high-level meetings between the US and China have generated much buzz in Washington.Republicans who support free trade are seen as indifferent to the interests of the American working class, whose life is crippled by rising consumer costs and stagnant wages.Some Americans believe that, in a sense, China is the root cause of soaring energy prices and falling wages in the United States.The Bush administration and the Republican members of Congress should also be responsible for this phenomenon. Too close a relationship with China can easily lead to this result. There is a subtle difference between the public's attitude and that of the government and the media.Lou Dobbs (Lou Dobbs), the financial ace host of CNN, repeatedly and angrily criticized the "Chinese price" and China's unfair competition.He often said: "On the plane to Hong Kong, I met a wedding dress designer who emailed his design proposal to a garment factory in the Pearl River Delta region of China, and then produced low-cost garments through the garment factory. The wedding dresses are then shipped to bridal shops in the Midwest of the United States for sale.” The bridal shop owner may only go to China to purchase goods once a year, but the opportunity for him to make a fortune is provided by China.Today, hundreds of companies, large and small, have become customers of Li & Fung Group. Founded in 1906, Li & Fung Trading Co., Ltd. is a multinational trading company headquartered in Hong Kong, which provides customers with one-stop procurement services.You can draw the product you want on a piece of paper, and Li & Fung will take care of the rest.It finds suppliers of raw materials, ships them to factories, negotiates prices, coordinates factories with ports, pays tariffs, and ships finished products to California or to warehouses in the U.S. and around the world.

From multiple perspectives, the complex and contradictory relationship between China and the United States is essentially an interactive relationship between China and the United States. In early 2007, Niall Ferguson co-authored an article with Moritz Schularick called "Central America," published in the Wall Street Journal.In the article, the two authors believe that China and the United States, as two major countries, are gradually merging into a huge force. The two countries are no longer two entities, but "China and the United States."In their view, "Central America" ​​is such a place: it owns 13% of the world's land, is home to 1/4 of the world's population, and has 1/3 of the world's economic output.Furthermore, “Central America” has accounted for 60% of global economic growth over the past 5 years.There is a symbiotic relationship between them.Eastern "Chinese Americans" are savers, while Western "Chinese Americans" are consumers; Eastern "Chinese Americans" are producers, while Western "Chinese Americans" are service providers; Eastern "Chinese Americans" are consumers; Americans” exported while “Chinese Americans” in the West imported goods; “Chinese Americans” in the East accumulated wealth while “Chinese Americans” in the West ran deficits, issued bonds in dollars, and then Sold to "Chinese Americans" in the East.When East and West come together, the two become a complementary whole.

Although Niall Ferguson and Moritz Sularik's "Central America" ​​has attracted attention, their interpretation of the term is too simplistic. "Central America" ​​is not just one side saving and the other consuming, nor is it just one side exporting and the other importing. The meaning of "Central America" ​​should be more complicated. The integration of two independent major countries into one system is far from being as simple as it is said.However, no matter how scholars describe "Central America", the idea they express is that the two great powers have formed a symbolic system, which is enough to make the people of the two countries feel refreshed.This formulation is full of imagination from a positive point of view, but absurd from a negative point of view.The border between the two countries still exists, and the spiritual border is more important than the physical border.

As the interests of China and the United States are intertwined, the term "China and the United States" has gradually been affirmed from many aspects. Although the interests of the people of China and the United States have many similarities, each country is for its own people. For example, international organizations (such as the United Nations) are composed of various countries, and the European Union was also established on the basis that each member state maintains its basic national power.Therefore, with the gradual formation of "China and the United States", the voice of opposition will become louder. In other words, since 2007, whether it is China or the United States, distrust and dissatisfaction with each other can be seen everywhere.Since few people are aware of the existence of "Central America", the dissatisfaction between the two sides will still be channeled through traditional methods, which means that nationalism and political means must play an important role in it.

Nationalism and political maneuvering were particularly evident in China's preparations for the 2008 Olympic Games.The Olympic Games is a grand sports event organized by the Chinese government, which is regarded as a platform for China to show its development status to the world.The Beijing Olympics became an event that made both China and the United States nervous and anxious.When the Olympics were held, the global economic crisis had not yet hit the world, but there were signs of it.Behind the surface of calm, the global financial system lurks a crisis.Finally, the economic crisis broke out shortly after the Olympics.As shown by the development of the situation, the Beijing Olympic Games became the culmination of the development of "Central America" ​​to a certain stage, followed by a brutal economic crisis.After more than 20 years of development of Sino-US relations, the integration of the two major countries is the only way to help the world economy out of the abyss of crisis.