Page 19 - THE SOUTH CHINA BUSINESS JOURNAL
P. 19
ted by AmCham South China Media Team Jeremie Waterman has been working on China, and in
particular the China trade issues, for a long time. He
Reprinted with permission from The Global knows them well, and that knowledge came through clearly
Business Dialogue (Judge Morris) in the candid and balanced talk he gave at The Global
Business Dialogue (GBD) Gavel Day lunch. (Gavel Day
refers to the passing of the chairman's gavel from one year's
chairman of the GBD Board of Advisers to the next.)
A former executive at the
U.S.-China Business Council, Je
remie Waterman
Mr. Waterman is today the
K President of the China Center
and Vice President for Greater
China at the U.S. Chamber
of Commerce. When he
spoke at the GBD lunchtime
conference, he had just returned
from China, and he told the
audience that, for the Chinese,
containment, that is an effort by the United States and
others to contain China, was the dominant narrative in
China. It is their explanation for today's tough policies
on both sides. That is not how Mr. Waterman sees the
situation, as he made clear in this passage in his remarks:
I think if a Chinese official or Chinese scholar
was sitting next to me he'd say, "Well, isn't this
containment in fact?" And I would say, "No, this is
not containment at all."
Rather, Mr. Waterman said, what China is seeing is
pushback from the United States and others against
certain Chinese policies and "China isn't appreciating the
pushback." Those comments, which came near the end of
his remarks, led to a peroration of sorts, and we'll get back
aDto that in a moment. First, however, it is worth highlighting
some of the historical ground Mr. Waterman covered in the
build up to his concluding remarks.
CHINA AND THE WTO
China's accession to the WTO in 2001 is the logical starting
point, and Mr. Waterman is clearly not among those who
see that development - and America's encouragement and
facilitation of it - as a large-scale error. To the contrary,
he recalled the enthusiasm associated with bringing an
economy of 1.4 billion people firmly into the global trading
system. And on the Chinese side, he said, "they were
committed to - not necessarily looking like us - but to
moving forward with real market-based reforms."
South China Business Journal 17
particular the China trade issues, for a long time. He
Reprinted with permission from The Global knows them well, and that knowledge came through clearly
Business Dialogue (Judge Morris) in the candid and balanced talk he gave at The Global
Business Dialogue (GBD) Gavel Day lunch. (Gavel Day
refers to the passing of the chairman's gavel from one year's
chairman of the GBD Board of Advisers to the next.)
A former executive at the
U.S.-China Business Council, Je
remie Waterman
Mr. Waterman is today the
K President of the China Center
and Vice President for Greater
China at the U.S. Chamber
of Commerce. When he
spoke at the GBD lunchtime
conference, he had just returned
from China, and he told the
audience that, for the Chinese,
containment, that is an effort by the United States and
others to contain China, was the dominant narrative in
China. It is their explanation for today's tough policies
on both sides. That is not how Mr. Waterman sees the
situation, as he made clear in this passage in his remarks:
I think if a Chinese official or Chinese scholar
was sitting next to me he'd say, "Well, isn't this
containment in fact?" And I would say, "No, this is
not containment at all."
Rather, Mr. Waterman said, what China is seeing is
pushback from the United States and others against
certain Chinese policies and "China isn't appreciating the
pushback." Those comments, which came near the end of
his remarks, led to a peroration of sorts, and we'll get back
aDto that in a moment. First, however, it is worth highlighting
some of the historical ground Mr. Waterman covered in the
build up to his concluding remarks.
CHINA AND THE WTO
China's accession to the WTO in 2001 is the logical starting
point, and Mr. Waterman is clearly not among those who
see that development - and America's encouragement and
facilitation of it - as a large-scale error. To the contrary,
he recalled the enthusiasm associated with bringing an
economy of 1.4 billion people firmly into the global trading
system. And on the Chinese side, he said, "they were
committed to - not necessarily looking like us - but to
moving forward with real market-based reforms."
South China Business Journal 17
