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Ken Moak

Ken Moak

Ken Moak taught economic theory, public policy and globalization at university level for 33 years. He co-authored a book titled China's Economic Rise and Its Global Impact in 2015. HIs second book, Developed Nations and the Economic Impact of Globalization, was just published by Palgrave McMillan Springer.

US-China relations Opinion

Defining the US-China relationship crucial to peace, prosperity

Ken Moak Ken Moak

It appears that 2018 could be a defining year for the US-China relationship and a litmus test of the political will of the two countries' presidents. The US Congress' passage of three pieces of legislation – the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the Taiwan Travel Act (TTA), and a law requiring the US secretary of state to help Taiwan regain observer status at the World Health Organization – could signal a "two-China" policy, meant to provoke Beijing. Additionally, US President...

US-China Ties Opinion

US-China trade policies, arms race put whole world at risk

Ken Moak Ken Moak

The US is once again escalating the "China threat" rhetoric. The latest incidents include blocking Ant Financial, a subsidiary of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, from acquiring US-based MoneyGram International; pressuring AT&T to cancel a deal with China's Huawei to distribute its smartphones; and resuming "freedom of navigation and overflight operations" (FNOPs) in the South China Sea. Blocking Ant Financial  The Congressional Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS) blocking of Ant Financial from acquiring MoneyGram for "national security" reasons is...

China Opinion

Demonizing China will not deter its rise – or improve America’s

Ken Moak Ken Moak

America's apparent policy failures and declining global influence could trigger more intense criticism against China, blaming it for everything under he sun. The first sign of this is US President Donald Trump accusing China of breaching United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions against North Korea with the flimsiest of evidence. Second, the US neoconservative crowd appears to have ratcheted up its anti-China rhetoric. Third, tax cuts may not produce the results that Trump is expecting. China-whipping seems a popular sport in...

Diplomacy Opinion

Trump’s UN bullyboy tactics may serve to isolate the US

Ken Moak Ken Moak

US President Donald Trump's threat to cut aid to developing nations may hurt his own country more than the recipients'. Foreign aid is a relatively low-cost platform for gaining geopolitical influence, and there is very little money involved. Donor countries buy goods and services from their own producers and donate to impoverished countries, helping them weather a disaster or develop their economies and societies. However, there are strings attached. For example, US aid requires recipient countries to adhere to liberal...

China Opinion

US, Australia face dilemma with China policies

Ken Moak Ken Moak

The complex and uneasy US-China and Australia-China relationships are about to get more stressful and complicated, given recent developments. The Australian government has openly accused China of meddling in its political affairs and stealing university research material. In the US, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China held a hearing titled "The Long Arm of China: Exporting Authoritarianism with Chinese Characteristics." The US Congress also passed the National Defense Authorization Act, allowing navy ships from Taiwan and United States to visit each other's...

China Opinion

The history behind China’s maritime ‘aggression’

Ken Moak Ken Moak

There are two or more sides to every story, and the territorial disputes between China and Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei in the South China Seas and Japan in the East China Sea are no exception. Which side is "aggressive" depends on one's perspective. The South China Sea China has long claimed that it has owned the territory within the "Nine Dash Line" since ancient times. Chinese fishermen and mariners are said to have sailed to the regions within the two...

Sino-US relations Opinion

Why Beijing and Washington will avoid ‘Thucydides Trap’

Ken Moak Ken Moak

The United States and China are unlikely to fall into the "Thucydides Trap", in which a rising power challenges an existing one to have a "piece of the pie." Conditions are very different from those that led to such wars in the past. In the first place, both countries possess weapons of mass destruction that could lead to mutual assured destruction (MAD). Second, past antagonists' economies were not as intertwined as those of the US and China. Third, China is not...

China Opinion

China is no more ‘aggressive’ than US and its allies

Ken Moak Ken Moak

Whether China is what its critics say it is depends on one's perspective. But in China's view, given the histories of the West and Japan, they are not qualified to judge it, because they are committing the very deeds they accuse China of. The fact is that China has neither the resources, time nor inclination to pursue global dominance when it needs a prolonged period of peace, stability and resources to build a "prosperous and strong" socialist country by 2050....

Geopolitics China

Why quadrilateral security pact is very unlikely

Ken Moak Ken Moak

Rumors abound about a quadrilateral security agreement (quad) between the US, Japan, Australia and India, after their leaders met on the sidelines of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) meeting in Manila recently. Adding weight to the rumors is the fact that US President Donald Trump and his senior officials are now calling the Asia-Pacific region the Indo-Pacific, a term first used by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2007. Fearing that an increasingly powerful China will flex...

Geopolitics Trade

For US and China, cooperation is best way forward

Ken Moak Ken Moak

Whether one believes him or not, Chinese President Xi Jinping is right: cooperation is the "only viable way." There are too many issues – climate change, global security, economic recovery, just to name a few – that cannot be addressed by any one nation, including the United States. While every leader should and must look after his/her nation's interests first, it need not be a "zero-sum" game. Unlike US President Donald Trump's "America First" posture, Xi's proposed Belt and Road...

China Foreign Policy

The rise of Xi Jinping poses no threat to the world

Ken Moak Ken Moak

Western anti-China groups, especially those in the US, are wary of  Xi Jinping's elevation to the ranks of Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping. A November/December Foreign Affairs article by Minxin Pei, a staunch anti-Beijing scholar, says China is returning to "strongman" rule and  that Xi will violate human rights. Others claim Xi is building a strong military to bully China's neighbors and push the the US out of Asia. Xi must have done something right if he is being personally...

Trade Globalization

Why globalization is seen as a failure in the West

Ken Moak Ken Moak

Western critics blame globalization and developing economies (read China) for factory closures, the loss of "high-paying" jobs, climate change, income inequality, rising crime and a host of other issues. Peter Navarro, US President Donald Trump's trade czar, for example, accused China of "unfair trade practices" and manipulating its currency, which he claimed is responsible for closing 50,000 factories, stealing between 20 and 30 million jobs, and putting taxpayers on the hook for US$3 trillion. Are Navarro and other critics' allegations...

international relations Trade

Why globalization is needed more than ever

Ken Moak Ken Moak

As indicated in a previous article and my new book, Developed Nations and the Economic Impact of Globalization, the world needs globalization now more than at any time in its history. Developed economies require access to external markets to climb out of the economic hole the 2007 financial crisis and policy mistakes have dug. The developing countries need foreign trade and investment to develop their economies. Global cooperation and diplomacy are essential to address the flashpoints in the Korean...

US-China Ties Opinion

China may be Trump’s best hope to ‘make America great again’

Ken Moak Ken Moak

China is not America's enemy or competitor or whatever name the US anti-China crowd labels it with. It is not challenging US global supremacy or stealing its jobs, as many in America claim. On the contrary, the Chinese and US economies are increasingly intertwined, becoming each other's largest trade partners and major investors. What's more, a large number of US states (such as Iowa) and cities (Los Angeles) are dependent on the Chinese market and investment to sustain economic growth. The two...

world trade Opinion

Trump’s ‘America First’ policy is fine but approach is wrong

Ken Moak Ken Moak

US President Donald Trump is doing what every leader is or should be doing, putting their national interests first, maximizing their country's economic, political and social well-being and keeping the population safe. But putting "America First" is not a zero sum game, as Trump's creating conflicts with other countries seems to imply. For example, in protecting Boeing's domestic market share, the Trump administration is threatening a 220% tariff on Canada's Bombardier CS100 passenger aircraft, claiming the company has received heavy subsidies from...

Chinese Economy Opinion

Standard & Poor’s China rating downgrade makes no sense

Ken Moak Ken Moak

How any supposedly objective credit-rating agency downgrades a country's creditworthiness when its financial position is stronger and more stable than those of the developed countries, as Standard & Poor's did recently, is beyond comprehension. This author has noted in response to a previous downgrade by Moody's Investors Service that China's total debt-to-GDP ratio was between 250% and 280% depending on whose figures one believes, while those of the Group of Seven developed nations ranged from 260% to 571%. And the majority of loans...

US-China Trade Opinion

US the likely loser of trade war with China

Ken Moak Ken Moak

As indicated in a previous article, an all-out trade war between China and the US over North Korea's nuclear program would trigger a global economic and geopolitical tsunami, possibly sending the US economy into a repeat of the 1930s-era Great Depression while at the same time  raising geopolitical tensions. In spite of President Donald Trump's boast that the US economy has never been better, its growth rate is expected to fall during the next two years largely because of insufficient domestic demand....

Sino-US relations Opinion

Threats against China could result in another Great Depression

Ken Moak Ken Moak

US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin's threats of a trade war against China if it does not uphold sanctions against North Korea not only will not accomplish anything, they could trigger a global economic tsunami and further heighten tension in the Korean Peninsula if he follows through with the threat. North Korea responded by firing an intermediate-range ballistic missile that traveled 3,700 kilometers over Japan and landed in the Pacific Ocean a few days after the United Nations Security Council unanimously passed harsh sanctions against the...

North Korea Opinion

US rejection of ‘double freeze’ will increase tension

Ken Moak Ken Moak

China's "double freeze" proposal (strongly backed by Russia) calling for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to stop testing missiles and nuclear weapons and for the US and South Korea to end their joint military exercises would not only bring stability to the Korean Peninsula but also makes economic and geopolitical sense. Resources would be appropriately and efficiently allocated. Instead of wasting money on war preparations, it could be used on programs to enhance the economies of both Koreas. Both North and...

China Opinion

Blaming China for US warship accidents is good business

Ken Moak Ken Moak

American neoconservatives' speculation that China was involved in causing four US destroyers to collide with freighters in the South China Sea so far this year not only lacks credibility, but borders on silliness. Even the US Navy says there is no evidence that China hacked the destroyers' state-of-the-art navigation systems. Most analysts would suggest sloppy seamanship as a more credible explanation. If China did hack into the USS John S McCain's navigation system, what does that say about the US Navy's capability? Likely driver of...

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