Trump outrageously launched an unprecedented trade war against more than 180 countries and regions worldwide. How far can this radical tariff war go? What impact will it have on the global trading system? As a staunch defender of the world economic order, how can China turn pressure into opportunity while safeguarding national interests? On April 10th, Observer Network's "Guanyuan Academy Live Hall" invited authoritative experts to provide professional interpretations from the perspectives of the U.S. economy, the world trading system, and geopolitics.

In the exchange among several scholars, Huang Jing, an outstanding professor at Shanghai International Studies University, believed that the United States had four methods to "maintain its good life." Huang Jing gave an example: "The first is through government bonds. After the establishment of the U.S. dollar hegemony in 1971, everyone used the U.S. dollar, and free trade was the foundation of the U.S. dollar hegemony. So the U.S. said you earn money and deposit it with us, and we will give you interest. That is U.S. Treasury bonds."

"The second method is that the U.S. controls the arms products market. A necessary condition for signing security alliances with Japan and Europe is that you must buy our weapons, regardless of their quality."

"The third method is that the U.S. holds control over the manufacturing and design capabilities of high-tech products, holding a large number of patents."

"The fourth method is using the Federal Reserve's control over exchange rates and interest rates to create American interest rate tides, rising and falling to harvest assets from other countries. The U.S. has always been very good at using this method, including the Plaza Accord in 1985 which forced the appreciation of the Japanese yen."

Huang Jing believed that China's rise has "knocked out" three of these methods. Huang Jing specifically explained: "Firstly, since the 1990s, the U.S. has stopped selling military products to China, and China has begun to manufacture its own military products. Moreover, Chinese people are very determined; they have made good military products, not only for domestic use but also for overseas sales. Traditional American customers like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia also buy China's military products."

Outstanding professor at Shanghai International Studies University Huang Jing participated in an online dialogue with Liu Yangsheng, founder of Hao Ran Capital and senior researcher at Taihe Institute, and Ding Yifan, researcher at the World Development Research Institute of the Development Research Center.

As for high-tech aspects, Huang Jing believed that the U.S. tried to burden China with an "environmental protection" issue, but China unexpectedly found a new way forward. Huang Jing stated: "The U.S. once raised a big issue about 'environmental protection,' thinking that if China couldn't use oil and coal, it would collapse. But the Chinese people have blazed a trail in new energy sources and turned photovoltaic panels into cheap goods. Now the chips are also starting to become cheap. You see, Texas Instruments has already collapsed."

Finally, regarding the U.S. financial means of harvesting assets, Huang Jing believed that China demonstrated strong resilience during the Asian financial crisis. He explained: "China defended Hong Kong during the Asian financial crises of 1997 and 1998, showing its ability to defend its nation and prevent the U.S. from harvesting its assets. Of course, there were various reasons for this, especially after the establishment of the AIIB in 2016, giving China more autonomy in managing its foreign exchange reserves. At least, America's tide of harvesting is no longer effective for China."

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Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7491662967902994953/

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