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China, US Economic Dominance Discussed In Lecture

Scott Kennedy, director of the Project on Chinese Business and Political Economy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, offered observations on how America and China have traded places economically and otherwise on the world stage at Chautauqua Institution on Tuesday morning.

CHAUTAUQUA — China and the U.S. have switched places on the world stage when it comes the to economy, with China leading the charge into many areas where the U.S. is lagging.

Scott Kennedy gave Chautauqua Institution a look into what has changed and where China and the U.S. succeed and fail at Tuesday morning’s lecture. Kennedy, Freeman Chair in China Studies deputy director, said both have their ups and downs.

“The U.S. still has tremendous strengths and China still has significant problems and challenges, and I think the awareness of this mixed picture of both countries is important as we develop American policy,” Kennedy said.

He started off by looking at what China is doing well, such as high-speed train travel.

“When I first went to China, all the trains were slow,” Kennedy said. “Now China has high-speed trains and 12,000 miles of high-speed train track.”

Likewise, social welfare has improved in China. For example, Kennedy said 95 percent of people have health insurance in the country. While everything isn’t always covered by the insurance, he said it is a vast improvement, especially for those in rural areas.

Also, Kennedy pointed out that the Chinese are focusing on technology and clean energy in a large way, while the U.S. is not.

“You have the G20 leaders meeting a little over a week ago, 10 days now, and China stood with the rest of the world in supporting the Paris Accords, implementing it and pledging to fulfill its obligations, and do so earlier than it originally committed,” he said. “(These are) tremendous changes for China that I’ve seen over the last 30 years.”

However, there have been many changes in America in the past few years, Kennedy said.

The U.S., particularly in Washington, D.C., is not focused on promoting technology, he said. Rather, the country is now focused on the steel industry.

“We are focused on past technologies,” Kennedy said.

When discussing social welfare, he said he did not read the U.S. House and Senate healthcare bills because they were “not available to be read.” Kennedy said if they passed, it would have a large impact on who had health insurance in the U.S.

He said all of the differences between China and the U.S. highlight something he never expected.

“Washington can’t go any direction without enough votes, so, of course, this is not just a Washington phenomenon, but a national phenomenon,” he said. “We have a lot of division in the United States about where the U.S. sits in the world, what the nature of our economy should be (and) what the U.S. role should be.”

There is still hope, he said. America still has a strong education system and a strong civil society, as portrayed by the participation at Chautauqua Institution and other organizations.

“People face to face is immensely important, so I’m extremely proud and admire what has gone on here for so many years,” Kennedy said. “We do also have an innovative government. Even if there are problems in Washington, local government and state government seem to be stepping up.”

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