Gu Bin

Opinion | Five myths about China must be debunked before the trade war with the US can end

Does China force US companies to transfer technology? To what extent does the Communist Party control the Chinese economy? Is Huawei spying for Beijing? Some common misconceptions must be cleared up, before trade negotiations can restart

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Gu Bin

Published: 1:00am, 15 Jun 2019Updated: 5:33am, 15 Jun 2019

The relationship between China and the United States has hit dangerous turbulence since trade talks ended without agreement last month. Ahead of the upcoming G20 Osaka summit, where both countries’ leaders are expected to meet, it is now critical to clear up misconceptions about China that are so popular in the US that they threaten to undermine this precious opportunity for both sides to get back to the negotiating table.

The first misconception that needs to be changed – and properly contextualised – is that about China stealing intellectual property from the US. “To steal a book is an elegant offence,” as a scholar in the Lu Xun short story Kong Yiji pleads. As history has taught us, almost no country can avoid stealing intellectual property from others during its development.

Back in the 19th century, the rise of the US was inseparable from the rampant stealing of technological innovations and intellectual property from Britain, including pilfered plans for textile weaving machinery and pirated copies of Charles Dickens novels. Now, the US advocates the highest intellectual property standards in the world.

With regard to intellectual property protection, China has followed a similar path, but at a quicker pace over the past 40 years. The Chinese have built their intellectual property protection system from scratch, and its success is even more extraordinary than that of the Chinese economy, in terms of the stipulations and enforcement of the laws, and the promotion of public awareness through education.

In prioritising science and technology leadership, this developing country will only keep enhancing protection of intellectual property rights, as it increases its social governance capabilities.

The second misconception is that the Chinese government is forcing American companies to transfer technology as a condition of investing in China. Here, the key is to assess whether the contract involving a technology transfer is entered into willingly or forcibly.