James McGregor, former CEO of Dow Jones & Company in China, writes for JLM Pacific Epoch about his observations of the Obama administration’s strategy toward China:
I have spent the past few days in Washington D.C. with several other former chairmen of AmCham China to exchange ideas with Obama administration officials on U.S.-China policy. I walk away very impressed that this is the first new administration in my 20-year China career in which all key players are in broad agreement when it comes to China.
[…] I believe that the Obama administration will be much more focused on the issue of real importance for U.S. business: protection of intellectual property rights. By wasting so much political energy and cabinet-level rhetoric on currency, China has had a relatively free pass on IPR protection in recent years. And this isn’t about movies and music. While Hollywood may be unhappy with the $1 DVDs sold on nearly every street corner, the real issue is industrial theft. Whether it is the copying of entire automobiles or electronic components, data servers, manufacturing processes or any sort of software, China has been picking the pocket of global businesses for too long. It has now gotten to the point that China is hurting itself. Chinese leadership is pushing “indigenous innovation,” but Chinese entrepreneurs and companies don’t have any incentive to innovate if they will be robbed blind by competitors.
The Strategic Economic Dialogue started by Bush’s treasury secretary, Hank Paulson, is now being expanded by Obama to become the Strategic & Economic Dialogue. Both Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner will be involved, along with Dai Bingguo and Wang Qishan on the Chinese side. The idea is to find ways for the U.S. and China to work together to lead the world out of this recession and avoid future confrontations.
