Kishore Mahbubani, a former Singaporean ambassador to the United Nations and David Adelman, a former US Ambassador to Singapore, at CNBC Converge Live Thursday, March 13, Singapore.
CNBC
Although US President Donald Trump is “very negative on China” theory, in practice, he may be ready to do a “great trade agreement” with the country, said Veteran Singapore Diplomat Kishore Mahbubani.
In fact, Trump’s administration is more likely to negotiate an agreement with China, compared to a bidan administration, said former Singapore ambassador to the United Nations.
While Mahbubani noted that Trump “should be more anti-kin,” if Trump’s administration may convince Beijing that he will not advocate for independence in Taiwan, this could smooth out the negotiations on the trade agreement of the two countries.
“If Trump can make China open its market, accept more US exports and may even invest more in the United States, then it is possible to have a Win-Win trade contract,” he said.
“The Chinese obviously want to have an agreement with the United States as well. They don’t want this competition to continue,” Mahbubani added.
Speaking on the same panel, David Adelman, a former US ambassador to Singapore, said “China has an important share of American economic success.”
Adelman noted that the US is the largest market of Chinese goods and the land consumer is still the most powerful in the world. But Chinese consumers are becoming more wealthier, which is an opportunity for American manufacturers.
Countries between
About trade, Mahbubani thinks there is a “structural transition of power to Asia”, referring to key speech Made the deputy government in Singapore Gan Kim Yong in Converge Live.
Gan said that the Asian economy is predicted to expand with about 50% of the gross domestic product in the world in about 60% by 2030.
Adelman particularly turned his attention to the Southeast Asia region, describing it mainly as a “collection of neutral countries”. He pointed out that these were countries that enjoyed US military support while having strong economic connections with China, which is the largest trade partner for all Southeast Asia countries.
These “non -aligned” states “enjoyed the benefit of US security protection,” at the same time “use the economic growth of China,” said Adelman.
But Trump and, to a lesser extent, the president of China Xi Jinping pushes the nation of Southeast Asia to choose between two forces, which led to “very interesting dynamics,” said Adelman.
However, over time, “the US and China will realize that it is in their interest to try to work with regions like Southeast Asia,” instead of forcing them to choose a side, Mahbubani said.
“So everyone wants to keep their options open. And it’s a world of tomorrow that you will see. That everyone realizes that the best way to survive is to be open to your options,” he said.
