The president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce told the 13th annual China Business Conference leadership and action are needed regarding the U.S.-China relationship.
The conference was held May 8-10 in Washington, D.C., according to the Chamber. The conference was a forum for exchanging ideas on several topics, including U.S.-China economic and commercial risks and relations, PRC domestic politics, national security concerns such as Taiwan and Russia and human rights issues.
“We can’t take a blunt approach on China — like decoupling,” Suzanne Clark said in her remarks. “We need to take the surgical approach of de-risking. The Chamber will continue to provide a platform and a voice for American businesses — to serve their interests, to protect our national security, to advance our economy and to ensure our future strength and competitiveness.”
Clark said business and government leaders and leaders from think tanks and industry want the two largest economies to “coexist in a way that isn’t defined by zero-sum metrics,” according to her remarks.
“We want to create a framework, as the administration has laid out, where we can compete on a level playing field, confront challenges in the relationship and cooperate on big global priorities,” Clark said in her remarks.
However, China’s policies for progression toward absolute security such as “military-civil fusion, economic coercion and extreme forms of digital protectionism,” plus “massive state subsidies, unfair commercial practices and human rights abuses” make the world less secure, Clark said in her remarks.
"But to be clear, not every economic interaction with China poses a national security risk," Clark said in her remarks. "There is still a vast area of commercial opportunity where we can and should engage productively. Transactions that don’t pose a threat to national security strengthen the U.S. economy, create opportunities for U.S. small businesses and improve the standard of living for millions of Americans. But perhaps most importantly, and I can’t underline this enough, if we treat every economic interaction as a risk, we will lose focus on those that truly pose a threat."
Clark's remarks were delivered shortly after Chinese authorities conducted raids on American firms located in Shanghai and Beijing, according to the Chamber.
According to the Chamber, Mike Gallagher and Raja Krishnamoorthi, who are the chair and ranking member of the U.S. House Select Committee on the CCP, respectively, were among the distinguished speakers at the conference. The event also featured other notable speakers such as Ning Zhu, the senior partner and head of China Brunswick Group, and Wendy Cutler, vice president and managing director of the Asia Society's Washington D.C. office, among others.
