Sino-friend or -foe?

Opinion: December 28, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

By Michael Justin Lee

Baltimore Sun

In a few weeks, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will be reinaugurated with great fanfare in Washington. Soon after that, in Beijing, Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang will ascend to the presidency and premiership of China. (China’s premier is the second-highest office but unlike the American vice president is more like the country’s chief operating officer, with the president as chief executive officer.) If our political leaders would play their cards right, the concomitant inaugurations could be prelude to a brilliant new start for our relationship with China.

But I doubt it, because soon after the inaugurations, Senate confirmation hearings for cabinet positions will begin, including the secretaries of treasury, state and defense. Given the nation’s current mood, I’m sure each in turn will express a strong degree of indignation toward China, especially regarding its currency and its military. Such tough talk will probably help the nominees win their cabinet positions — but surely won’t build any ties with China.

That’ll be quite a shame. Our business leaders know well that although China is an aspiring superpower, it is not the Soviet Union, and this is not the Cold War. You won’t hear them second the opinions we’ll surely hear from our cabinet nominees. That’s because they fully realize the opportunity that China presents. Just last month, a study released by the Boston Consulting Group concluded that China will have 280 million affluent consumers by 2020. A potential market of affluent consumers nearly the size of the U.S. population is enough to make any CEO salivate. So might we, if we appreciated the opportunity this could afford us to pull us back to economic growth.

Do we want an inimical relationship with our most important business partner — the one, frankly, that we need the most as we struggle to climb out of recession?

Michael Justin Lee, a lecturer in the Department of Finance and the Center for East Asian Studies at the University of Maryland, is author of the new book, “The Chinese Way to Wealth and Prosperity: 8 Timeless Strategies for Achieving Financial Success.” He is represented by the China Speakers Bureau. Distributed by MCT Information Services.