MNI POLICY: Decoupling Between US And China Selective: Advisor

     BEIJING (MNI) - Any decoupling between the U.S. and China is "selective"

and driven by Washington's attempts to slow China's moves to upscale its

manufacturing sector, according to a senior advisor with a think-tank affiliated

to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

     The moves come largely in areas such as hi-tech, but this was "not an area

of close cooperation between China and the U.S. originally," Shen Yamei, Deputy

Director and Associate Research Fellow, Department for American Studies at the

China Institute of International Studies(CIIS), told a press conference Friday.

     Shen said it was "unfair" to say the two countries are decoupling

completely, there was sustained cooperation in the service sector, the finance

sector, and China has also opened the medical service market to the U.S.

     With a nod to the upcoming U.S. Presidential election, Shen said a win for 

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden could see a change in the dynamics,

as he would look to repair Washington's relations with its allies and attempt to

pressure China in a more united way.

     Shen thought such a tactic could actually benefit China, as third parties

could become a balancing power between the U.S. and China, as "no country is

willing to sacrifice their own people's welfare and pay for the confrontation or

competition between China and the U.S.," Shen said.

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: archie.zhang@marketnews.com

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