America and China: Two Insiders' Perspectives

On Friday afternoon, just as we were all ready to retire to our dorms for free time after hours of work on bills to be presented to a mock Congress, the St. Albans School of Public Service was paid a visit by two of the foremost experts on the future of Sino-American commercial relations, Senior Trade Representative for China Affairs Lisa Rigoli and Randall Phillips, the former top-ranking CIA official in Beijing. The husband-wife team had taken different career paths to their respective positions of authority, with Randall having always had his sights set on the intelligence community while Lisa gained experience in the private sector before being hired by the Office of the United States Trade Representative. Because Randall is retired, the height of his activity having been under the Bush and Clinton administrations in the 1990s and Lisa is currently working on hot-button trade issues like Trump's tariffs and protecting American IP, the two of them offered unique and informed perspective on China's past, present, future role on the world stage.

Although they presented different evidence, the general consensus between Mr. Phillips and Ms. Rigoli was that China has witnessed over a generation of economic growth, is currently experiencing a powerful wave of nationalism, and is poised to fill the void the United States is leaving in the global power structure through isolationist policies and ineffective diplomacy. Through actions like withdrawing from the TPP, the Paris Climate Accords, and the JCPOA, as well as an inconsistent foreign policy platform and consistent devaluation of traditional American alliances, the United States has opened a vacuum, and China under Xi Jinping intends to fill the role of global hegemon. The last three generations of Chinese have seen their country experiencing massive economic growth, and the momentum in China favors this trend continuing, especially since the poverty continues to decline and President Xi has consolidated his rule as "president for life."

From the perspective of Mr. Phillips and Ms. Regoli, America's largest trading partner should not be regarded as a threat per se, but rather treated as the formidable world power it is and kept under a watchful eye as its economic and geopolitical power continue to grow.

President Trump shakes hand with Xi Jinping
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-10/malcolm-turnbull-doesnt-have-to-picking-between-trump-or-xi/9135614

America's trade deficit with China has grown rapidly over the last three decades
https://www.economist.com/briefing/2017/03/30/averting-a-chinese-american-trade-war