Cyberattacks, expansionism and economic crisis on Xi’s and Obama’s dinner menu
Beijing (AsiaNews) – When he sits down for a state dinner at the White House in his honour, Chinese President Xi Jinping will have more than food on his mind. Issues like industrial espionage and cyberattacks, China’s maritime strategy in Asia, the American presence in Japan and Korea, and the international economic crisis will likely be additional items on the menu.
Indeed, it will be "an opportunity to expand US-China co-operation", said a White House spokesman, and to "address areas of disagreement constructively". However, for analysts and experts many of the issues are too broad and too multifaceted to be easily solved.
Mr Xi is expected to travel to Seattle on 22 September, where he will visit local plants and sign some small agreements, before visiting Washington on 25 September and New York, where he is due to give a speech to the UN General Assembly on 28 September.
This year’s session will mark the 70th anniversary of its founding. On 27 September, Pope Francis will deliver his highly anticipated speech before the international organisation.
Xi is seen as one of the most powerful Chinese leaders in decades, but his vision of creating a “Chinese dream” and returning the country to great power status has met economic headwinds.
After decades of breakneck growth, the Chinese economy is weakening, creating a worldwide ripple effect, from slower trade volumes to skittishness on global equity and commodity markets.
Things have not improved after the Shanghai Stock Exchange plunged and the yuan was devalued.
For its part, China needs a strong US economy because the United States accounts for more than a quarter of total Chinese exports.
In the past 15 years, China has also acquired a large chunk of the US debt, worth a trillion dollars and now Beijing is Washington’s largest creditor.
Meanwhile, China’s 13 per cent GDP growth rate is now a distant memory. This year, it will be lucky if it reaches 7 per cent with rising unemployment and a significant drop in exports.
Beijing will find the means to overcome the crisis, by stimulating domestic consumption for example, but it will need to sell a lot, especially to United States.
In view of the situation, a group of 94 chief executives have written to the two presidents to say a high-quality agreement would have an immediate and tangible impact on both economies. Among the signatories are the ‘Oracle of Omaha’ Warren Buffett, Apple’s Tim Cook, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs.
What for politicians and analysts is a macroeconomic issue, for most Americans, it is something more direct. A new survey by the Washington-based Pew Research Center shows a majority of Americans are gravely concerned about hacking and China’s impact on the U.S. economy – with alarm regarding the former rising markedly over the past three years.
The poll shows that 67 per cent of US adults view the large US debt held by China as a “very serious” problem. Similarly, 60 per cent say the same about US job losses to China, whilst 54 per cent describe Chinese cyberattacks as a very serious issue.
In fact, cyberattacks are an issue that US President is keen to address. In advance of the visit, Obama has warned that the scale of cyberattacks from China was not acceptable. US officials have floated the idea of sanctions.
China could choose to make this an area of competition, Obama said, but in a stern warning, added, “I guarantee you, we will win if we have to.”
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12/02/2016 15:14
01/02/2011
