Cooperation, not agitation key to good relations
Dai Min, president of the China International Strategies Ltd and Milligan-Whyte Foundation, has studied Sino-US relationships during the past decade. In her two new books co-authored with her husband, she depicts a few American stereotypes and prejudices about China.
Dai shares her views with China Daily on the sidelines of the ongoing Inaugural Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian.
Q: Some Americans blamed Chinese workers are robbing the job opportunities in the US. What's your opinion?
A: No, It is for the US companies seeking the best place where they open companies and pour investment. They need China more than China needs them.
The current economic structure of the US no longer lingers around simple manufacturing, sewing jeans. It has surpassed the primary stage. Few people in the US are willing to do that.
It is the US companies coming to seek such manufacture trade in China. And since the labor price in China is also picking up, they will relocate to the other countries like Vietnam, where the prices are cheaper.
Q: China is facing a spate of accusations about the safety of its exports, especially from the US. Will that affect the trade ties between the two?
A: This will not become a major problem between the two countries. After all, the US consumers need cheap goods. They will not stop buying cheap things from China.
On the other hand, it could be a good thing for China. The Chinese government, like always, has paid huge attention to the issue of product safety. What they need is to use more media promotion to restore the confidence of the US consumers.
Q: There are mounting concerns from the US about China's environmental pollution, which is exerting impact on the whole world. What is your opinion about this?
A: The Chinese government has taken an active attitude towards addressing this issue. But it will take some time before the governments' effort can show their effects.
The US also has experienced a period when dead fish floated in the rivers near the plants, billowing with smoke.
Give China more time, all the problems will be solved. Instead of blaming China, the US should spend some effort helping and cooperating with China.
(Shanghai Start 09/07/2007 page2)
