Page 64 - 2018 White Paper on the Business Environment in China
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8 White Paper on the Business Environment in China
unquestionably orders of magnitude more to be lost in stone etchings found in Egypt, Greece and China depict
the absence of such cooperation. resplendent royal ceremonies, in which the soldiers of
great armies engaged in tug-of-war to build strength in
The world has changed since the Spartans and preparation for combat. In the eighth century, the Tang
Athenians of ancient Greece. America has the opportunity Dynasty emperor Xuanzong was known to pit over five
to focus on China toward areas of mutual interest and hundred warriors on each side of a rope over 150 meters
benefit, while dealing calmly with issues of conflict. There long. In the early twentieth century, tug-of-war was
exists a great deal of prospect on fronts such as counter- officially included in five successive Summer Olympics.”
piracy, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, as well And yet tug-of-war is the world’s most brutal non-contact
as a countless of scenarios for economic engagement and sport. In thousands of years, almost no one has ever died
resource management. China has legitimate domestic in tug-of-war. Perhaps this simple game is a more apt
concerns concerning the quality of life of its people, metaphor than Allison’s Thucydides Trap (Khanna et al.).
specifically pollution. The U.S. can leverage China’s
unease to foster bi-lateral or multi-lateral agreements Most businesses worry more about a disruption of
on a multitude of environmental issues, while subtly supply lines than the opaque possibilities of a future
nudging the Chinese people and government towards war. Unlike traditional war, tug-of-war is waged not over
a less authoritarian interpretation of their country. The territory but over flows—of resources, money, goods and
view from both Washington and Beijing should suggest technology. These flows are like the rope in tug-of-war: a
that enmity and conflict would be much costlier than medium of competition and connectivity. The global tug-
teamwork and peace (Sanders). of-war is about pulling the world’s value chains toward
oneself, to be the largest producer of resources and
In an interview with the Harvard Gazette, Allison said goods, and gain the maximum profit from transactions.
that just in the last generation China has displaced the Each power wants to build an economy that is wealthy
U.S. as the No. 1 producer of automobiles, computers, and free of excessive dependence on foreign capital or
smartphones, and artificial intelligence. China is the technology. Tug-of-war represents the shift from a war
largest economy in the world as measured by purchasing between systems, such as capitalism versus communism,
power parity. Allison uses the metaphor of a seesaw, in to conflicts within one collective supply chain system.
which the U.S. is on one end and China is on the other. In Whereas traditional wars are finite in duration and
1990, China had about 15 percent of the American weight. scope, the ongoing supply chain tug-of-war is without
By 2014, China is roughly equal with the U.S., and by 2024 end. In the absence of major conflict between great
will be half again larger. “So, just in our lifetime, a state powers, tug-of-war is war. Clausewitz’s dictum that “war
that hardly mattered in international affairs and hardly is the continuation of politics by other means” should be
mattered as a buyer or seller of anything has emerged revised: War is the continuation of tug-of-war by other
as a serious rival and, in many arenas, has surpassed us” means. And though conflict among major powers has
(Allison, The Troubling). the appearance of a historical cycle, it is by no means
foreordained. More than any previous era of globalization,
The seesaw is an interesting analogy, but a different today’s major powers are keenly aware that nobody wins
game metaphor might be more appropriate. The primary if the rope snaps in a game of tug-of-war (Khanna et al.).
mode of interaction among superpowers is not the
quest to conquer each other’s territory but the pursuit
of access to each other’s resources and markets. North
America, Europe and China are each other’s largest trade
partners and foreign investors. Two of America’s largest
companies, Apple and Wal-Mart, have stationed most
of their supply chains in China. European trade with
Asia now exceeds its trade with America, and the two
ends of Eurasia are embarking on a multitrillion-dollar
infrastructure program to build a seamless continental
commercial zone. According to The National Interest,
superpowers are not waging war but a tug-of-war.
“Tug-of-war is mankind’s oldest team sport. Ancient
64
unquestionably orders of magnitude more to be lost in stone etchings found in Egypt, Greece and China depict
the absence of such cooperation. resplendent royal ceremonies, in which the soldiers of
great armies engaged in tug-of-war to build strength in
The world has changed since the Spartans and preparation for combat. In the eighth century, the Tang
Athenians of ancient Greece. America has the opportunity Dynasty emperor Xuanzong was known to pit over five
to focus on China toward areas of mutual interest and hundred warriors on each side of a rope over 150 meters
benefit, while dealing calmly with issues of conflict. There long. In the early twentieth century, tug-of-war was
exists a great deal of prospect on fronts such as counter- officially included in five successive Summer Olympics.”
piracy, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, as well And yet tug-of-war is the world’s most brutal non-contact
as a countless of scenarios for economic engagement and sport. In thousands of years, almost no one has ever died
resource management. China has legitimate domestic in tug-of-war. Perhaps this simple game is a more apt
concerns concerning the quality of life of its people, metaphor than Allison’s Thucydides Trap (Khanna et al.).
specifically pollution. The U.S. can leverage China’s
unease to foster bi-lateral or multi-lateral agreements Most businesses worry more about a disruption of
on a multitude of environmental issues, while subtly supply lines than the opaque possibilities of a future
nudging the Chinese people and government towards war. Unlike traditional war, tug-of-war is waged not over
a less authoritarian interpretation of their country. The territory but over flows—of resources, money, goods and
view from both Washington and Beijing should suggest technology. These flows are like the rope in tug-of-war: a
that enmity and conflict would be much costlier than medium of competition and connectivity. The global tug-
teamwork and peace (Sanders). of-war is about pulling the world’s value chains toward
oneself, to be the largest producer of resources and
In an interview with the Harvard Gazette, Allison said goods, and gain the maximum profit from transactions.
that just in the last generation China has displaced the Each power wants to build an economy that is wealthy
U.S. as the No. 1 producer of automobiles, computers, and free of excessive dependence on foreign capital or
smartphones, and artificial intelligence. China is the technology. Tug-of-war represents the shift from a war
largest economy in the world as measured by purchasing between systems, such as capitalism versus communism,
power parity. Allison uses the metaphor of a seesaw, in to conflicts within one collective supply chain system.
which the U.S. is on one end and China is on the other. In Whereas traditional wars are finite in duration and
1990, China had about 15 percent of the American weight. scope, the ongoing supply chain tug-of-war is without
By 2014, China is roughly equal with the U.S., and by 2024 end. In the absence of major conflict between great
will be half again larger. “So, just in our lifetime, a state powers, tug-of-war is war. Clausewitz’s dictum that “war
that hardly mattered in international affairs and hardly is the continuation of politics by other means” should be
mattered as a buyer or seller of anything has emerged revised: War is the continuation of tug-of-war by other
as a serious rival and, in many arenas, has surpassed us” means. And though conflict among major powers has
(Allison, The Troubling). the appearance of a historical cycle, it is by no means
foreordained. More than any previous era of globalization,
The seesaw is an interesting analogy, but a different today’s major powers are keenly aware that nobody wins
game metaphor might be more appropriate. The primary if the rope snaps in a game of tug-of-war (Khanna et al.).
mode of interaction among superpowers is not the
quest to conquer each other’s territory but the pursuit
of access to each other’s resources and markets. North
America, Europe and China are each other’s largest trade
partners and foreign investors. Two of America’s largest
companies, Apple and Wal-Mart, have stationed most
of their supply chains in China. European trade with
Asia now exceeds its trade with America, and the two
ends of Eurasia are embarking on a multitrillion-dollar
infrastructure program to build a seamless continental
commercial zone. According to The National Interest,
superpowers are not waging war but a tug-of-war.
“Tug-of-war is mankind’s oldest team sport. Ancient
64
