China develops wiser long-term strategies to counter U.S. containment: Singaporean scholar

(ECNS) -- China has developed wiser long-term strategies to protect itself from any containment policy by the U.S., said renowned Singaporean scholar Kishore Mahbubani in an interview with South China Morning Post.

According to the scholar, the pressure on China from the U.S. has not subsided in any significant way. The U.S. has taken various actions against China with no clear description of what the goals of these actions might be, which in Mahbubani’s view is a major strategic mistake.

He pointed out that the Biden administration is trying to stabilize the relationship with China, but it is also imposing new restrictive measures, without clearly stated their end goal.

“It’s quite natural for Beijing to get angry when the U.S. imposes measures against China,” he said.

He noted that it is an undeniable fact that the U.S. that has been taking measures against China. “China has retaliated, but China has not initiated measures against the U.S.,” he said.

Relatively speaking, China has been wise to quietly proceed with their strategy of developing closer links with more countries than the U.S. does, the scholar said, citing the examples of initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, and even the New Development Bank, which in his opinion provide ways and means for China to engage the rest of the world constructively.

He also stressed that the U.S. couldn’t successfully isolate China as it had done to the Soviet Union. “It cannot be done because China has more substantive ties with more countries than the U.S. does, especially in terms of trading relationships.”

Additionally, the scholar is optimistic about the future economic trend of China, as evidenced by its well-performing exports to the rest of the world and still-going-up global manufacturing share.

“I think it is China that is making wiser long-term investments for the future,” he said. “This is why, over the medium-term and long-term, one can still remain bullish about the Chinese economy,” he added.