Estimated read time: 7-8 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
OREM — China's economy is on a fast track to becoming the most powerful in the world with a coordinated goal of overtaking the U.S. on its rise to the top.
Along with being America's third-largest trading partner, China also has an eye for the Beehive State and its bustling economy.
Goods exports from Utah to China increased 31% in 2021, to a whopping $1 billion, the U.S. China Business Council announced Thursday.
While the Chinese economy is surging, the relationship between China and the U.S. is barely treading water, in large part due to President Xi Jinping taking personal charge of all the main levers of power in China.
His heavy hand may not be going away anytime soon, either.
"This is a leader who believes deeply in the ideology that he was brought up in," said Matt Pottinger, former Deputy National Security Advisor of the United States.
Business leaders, foreign affairs experts and national security policy professionals — to the tune of 1,200 in-person and virtual participants — convened Thursday at Utah Valley University to discuss this challenge, as well as strategic insights and tactical advice for how the U.S. can work in symphony with China in the current global environment.
State of the U.S. relationship with China
Jon Hunstman Jr., former U.S. ambassador to China under the Obama administration and former governor of Utah, said the U.S. is currently in the process of "redefining the whole state of the bilateral relationship" with China.
This relationship is also "by far" the most important one that the U.S. has with any country in the world, said Nicholas Burns, current U.S. ambassador to China.
This is largely due to what he described as the level of competition and interaction between the two powers when it comes to the respective economies and societies.
"I'm sorry to say, I think the relationship is in very tough shape," Burns said. "It's a very difficult moment ... We Americans don't believe that China's playing by the rules on economics and trade and that's unfair to our businesses and our workers and to the American public and our economy."
Burns described China as not playing by the rules and "pushing out" for power over the U.S. — and its allies like Japan, Australia, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines — militarily as well as economically and technologically.
"I think you and I would assume we're going to have commercial competition, that's fair," Burns told Huntsman. "But the Chinese are seeking to militarize many of these technologies and that presents a real challenge to us."
China, Burns said, has ambitions to become the strongest power in the Indo-Pacific region and it will go to great, sometimes illegal lengths, to expand its military presence.
"Taking land, taking islands and militarizing them against international law — they're doing that," Burns said.
Other fundamental differences between the two countries also exist, Burns said.
Namely, the U.S. has a steadfast belief in democracy and freedom of the people.
"The government here (in China) does not," Burns said. "This is a profound division and I think we feel it quite strongly in our mission that our job is to defend the United States and our people."
U.S. priorities in the Chinese relationship
As competitive as China has been in trying to flex its metaphorical muscles on the U.S., Burns said that it's imperative that the U.S. meets that competitiveness "head-on."
"We're in a largely competitive mode here with the Chinese," Burns said.
For a country that is seemingly rallying against the U.S., how could America, as a country divided, hope to respond?
When it comes to China, Burns said, the U.S. isn't nearly as divided as it is in other areas of policy.
"There's not an identical fuse between the two political parties or between, say, conservatives and liberals," Burns said. "There is, I think, a consensus that we're in a different mode now. That the Chinese government is much more assertive than it was 10 or 15 or 20 years ago against the interests of the United States."
"Republicans, Democrats, (they) don't agree on much these days on Capitol Hill, but they do agree on China," Burns said.
This is a strength, he said, as the Chinese will "try to divide us."
Additionally, Burns and Huntsman agreed that the U.S. must invest in itself if it wants to compete effectively with China.
Burns pointed to the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill signed last year by President Joe Biden — the largest infrastructure bill in a generation — as a positive step in making the U.S. more competitive in the international playing field and competing with China in the long-term.
Because of China's ambition to become the strongest and most influential power in the Indo-Pacific region, the U.S. also needs to invest and align with its allies, Burns said.
"I think that's probably the most effective way in terms of foreign and defense policy to face the Chinese," Burns said. "We don't want to go to war with China, ... we don't want conflict — but we need to stand up and protect our security and economic interests in this region and our allies are helping us do that," against what he called an "increasingly aggressive China."
Decoupling and moving into the future
Huntsman pointed out the U.S.'s trillion-dollar trade relationship with China, as well as the global supply chain that runs through it, referencing U.S. manufacturing operations in China to introduce the idea of decoupling into Thursday's discussion with Burns.
"How far does it actually go before it starts negatively impacting consumers in the United States and perhaps even some of our allies and friends … who are all kind of part of that trade matrix that has been built up over the last many decades?" Huntsman asked.
Burns said there's a $650 billion two-way trade relationship between the U.S. and China.
Think about it. Many of the goods that Americans consume and rely on each and every day come directly from China.
"Last year, American farmers and American ranchers sold $38 billion worth of American agricultural products (and) ranch products to China," Burns said. "That's one-fifth of all U.S. agricultural exports around the world so there's a degree of integration here that you just can't unravel easily."
Burns said that while many try to accuse the U.S. of decoupling from China, in reality, it's China leading the way.
He said China is trying to "look inward" and develop its economy in a way that it is no longer dependent on the U.S. or other countries for its imports and trade.
Huntsman and Burns also agreed that China is looking at Russia as a case study into why it's important to reduce dependence on supply chains and make sure they aren't the "prey" of Western sanctions in the future, similar to how global sanctions that Huntsman said have worked "brilliantly" have impacted Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.
"China doesn't want to see that happen to themselves in some future scenario," Burns said.
Additionally, Burns said that the trend that's been happening over the past five to 10 years in China toward increased authoritarianism and control demonstrated by the Chinese Communist Party will likely lead to Xi Jinping serving an unprecedented third, five-year term as president.
"He's very likely to be governing this country (China) for the next five years and perhaps even beyond," Burns said.
With that said, it's up to the U.S. to continue investing in its allies and itself in the fight to maintain a bilateral relationship with China.
"You can see the impact that this country is having on the rest of the world just because of its sheer power," Burns said. "Another reason why we need to be at full strength down here in the American mission, to represent our own interests and our own values."
