Sino-US Trade Differences - Can a Balance be Restored?

The Sino-US trade standoff is at a critical point. So far，developments have been unfortunate to say the least. But the political frictions are in many ways understandable.

The differences between China and the United States are plain for all to see. They lie in the different degrees of modernization and the development paths these two countries have chosen. They also are the inevitable results of different cultural and historical traditions.

Different paths in the course of modernization are to be expected. Britain took the road that generally favored peaceful change and gradual progress while France took a more violent path of revolution and disruption. The United States freed itself from colonial rule through a war for independence. China also chose revolution and a totally different political system. In more recent years it has undergone reform and an opening-up to the outside world. From the American point of view，what China has chosen is state capitalism and this system in and of itself makes the United States uncomfortable. Added to that is an American sense of crisis stemming from the fear of being surpassed. In fact，differences do not have to devolve into confrontation.It is important that we remember that a prosperous China is good for the United States，and vice versa. Moreover，China does not aim to change – nor does it seek to replace – the United States. Prejudice leads to faulty assumptions and miscalculations. Hypersensitivity can lead to flawed judgments while tolerance allows room for the accommodation of differences. It is essential that we keep this in mind.

China and the United States are at different stages of development. The United States has completed the process of industrialization and transformed itself into an information society while China is still in the mid to late stages of industrialization. The US has advantages in capital and technology and