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Opinion | As the US and China clash, what can other countries do?
- Neighbours and partners must work to rebuild cross-border trade and boost supply chains as a leadership gap widens during the coronavirus pandemic
- Lessons can be drawn from the efforts of Asian countries, which signed their own FTAs as a backup plan to global trade when WTO negotiations stalled at the start of the 2000s
Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
The coronavirus pandemic has been global in reach and impact, yet cooperation has been anything but. National governments largely fend for themselves, for better or worse. The absence of global cooperation is, moreover, not a simple oversight. It is a consequence of US-China rivalry and finger-pointing.
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Competition was increasing over the past years, framed as a Thucydides trap between rising and incumbent powers. Under President Donald Trump, the United States is often absent but still vehemently asserts its No 1 status. As for China, while Beijing is extending help, there are still concerns about conditional support. All agree that the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated competition and increased tension.
The question is, what can others do about it? The current assumption is, not much. And this may sadly be right, with little prospect of decisive global cooperation on the coronavirus.
But another question remains: can any good come from the efforts of third countries?
While the US and China are the largest economies, the rest account for some 60 per cent of global GDP. Fighting Covid-19 involves many measures by multiple actors and there is a plethora of areas where win-win cooperation could benefit.
02:06
Coronavirus pandemic creates ‘new Cold War’ as US-China relations sink to lowest point in decades
Coronavirus pandemic creates ‘new Cold War’ as US-China relations sink to lowest point in decades
TRADE AND TRUST
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