00:00:00
China right now is perceived as a threat
00:00:02
to the United States by both political
00:00:04
parties and China is an easy Whipping
00:00:07
Boy for political propaganda you know
00:00:10
it's easy to bash China as infringing on
00:00:14
our rights and taking our jobs and
00:00:16
whatever doing all these evil things
00:00:17
with Tick Tock and Huawei and blah blah
00:00:19
blah I think the rhetoric will die down
00:00:23
um as one after this election is over
00:00:26
first second after we realize that our
00:00:30
economy has been damaged by tariffs
00:00:33
China's rise from a very poor bicycling
00:00:36
country to a country now that is the
00:00:38
leading deployer of electric vehicles on
00:00:40
the streets or you know where there's so
00:00:42
much Prosperity that was unimaginable 50
00:00:45
years ago when I first came here I've
00:00:47
come to the conclusion and most
00:00:49
Americans probably can't even tolerate
00:00:52
that I will say this but that the
00:00:54
Chinese system has worked for China
00:00:56
Chinese system has been so beneficial to
00:01:00
hundreds of millions of people whose
00:01:03
prospects for Prosperity were zero back
00:01:07
50 years
00:01:11
ago you've been to China more than 100
00:01:15
times 150 times since the 1970s so you
00:01:19
witness the ups and downs of China us
00:01:22
relations at this particular time are
00:01:26
you optimistic or pessimistic about the
00:01:28
future of China us Rel Rel I'm realistic
00:01:31
that this is probably a low point in us
00:01:34
China relations I'm optimistic that it
00:01:37
can't get any worse I mean it could get
00:01:39
worse but I'm optimistic that it won't
00:01:41
get worse I think things ride in cycles
00:01:45
and we're at a low EB of this cycle um
00:01:48
China right now is perceived as a threat
00:01:50
to the United States by both political
00:01:53
parties and China is an easy Whipping
00:01:56
Boy for political propaganda you know
00:01:59
it's easy to bash China as infringing on
00:02:02
our rights and taking our jobs and
00:02:04
whatever doing all these evil things
00:02:06
with ticktock and Huawei and blah blah
00:02:08
blah I think the rhetoric will die down
00:02:11
um as one after this election is over
00:02:15
first second after we realize that our
00:02:18
economy has been damaged by tariffs and
00:02:22
that the relationship the bilateral
00:02:24
trade relationship with China doesn't
00:02:26
have an evilness to it that it's
00:02:28
actually very healthy
00:02:30
and that it's been good for American
00:02:31
consumers and good for for American
00:02:34
America's Prosperity but it's also been
00:02:36
very good for China so there's been this
00:02:38
classic win-win situation um and I think
00:02:41
Americans going to realize that Chinese
00:02:43
aren't bad people you know that they're
00:02:45
they're nice people and um and I the
00:02:49
other kind of critical question is what
00:02:52
are China's motivations as China grows
00:02:55
clearly its military will also grow cuz
00:02:58
that's what countries do they build up
00:03:00
defense capabilities and the question is
00:03:03
what will China use that military for
00:03:07
and and is it possible that that
00:03:08
military is going to be aimed at America
00:03:11
in some hostile way I don't think it I
00:03:14
don't think that that's China's
00:03:16
intentions at all you know my father
00:03:18
never believed that China was an enemy
00:03:20
to the United States and I guess you can
00:03:23
turn a friend into an enemy if you treat
00:03:26
them that way you know eventually but it
00:03:28
would be devast ating to to both
00:03:31
countries and to the world if we ended
00:03:34
up engaging in some kind of a conflict
00:03:36
so yeah I'm I'm realistically suggesting
00:03:40
that we're at a low Point optimistically
00:03:43
looking forward to to a to an upswing
00:03:46
you know when when rational thought
00:03:49
prevails as a businessman and investor
00:03:52
yourself and how do you see the future
00:03:54
of China's economy and what other
00:03:56
potentials if the companies and other
00:03:59
people from China and America can work
00:04:01
together yeah the potential is great the
00:04:04
the the prospects of working together
00:04:07
right now are pretty pretty sluggish
00:04:10
only because of the the geopolitical
00:04:12
tensions China's been hurt I think by by
00:04:15
our trade relationship with the tariffs
00:04:17
our trade debt has gone down with China
00:04:20
the trade exch the amount of trade
00:04:23
exchange has gone down I'm not sure I'd
00:04:25
be bullish right now on investing in
00:04:27
China I would be bullish on the
00:04:29
long-term prospects of China's
00:04:32
Rejuvenation or you know rebounding you
00:04:35
know Co set things back the geopolitical
00:04:37
situation set things back and China has
00:04:40
a large enough consumer population and a
00:04:43
large enough Center of innovation there
00:04:46
are many entrepreneurs or many small and
00:04:48
mediumsized businesses that will grow
00:04:50
and become you know prosperous so I I
00:04:53
wouldn't bet against China's economy I'm
00:04:56
not an economist but just from what I
00:04:58
hear on the street and what I read I
00:05:01
wouldn't wouldn't predict China's robust
00:05:04
growth anytime soon like you mentioned
00:05:07
before you came to China 150 times in
00:05:11
the past few decades have anyone asked
00:05:13
you why why you go to China so
00:05:16
often um that's a great my wife asks me
00:05:19
that all the time why are you going back
00:05:21
to China I don't I I really love my
00:05:23
visits to China I started in 1975 when I
00:05:26
was a 20-year-old man I was in college
00:05:28
and I came and saw firsthand China
00:05:31
during the cultural revolution the end
00:05:33
of the cultural revolution and since
00:05:35
then I've been coming back every every
00:05:37
just about every year not every year in
00:05:39
the in the 80s but since then I come
00:05:42
back frequently um during every year and
00:05:45
it's been a
00:05:46
remarkable thing to witness China's rise
00:05:49
from a very poor bicycling country to a
00:05:53
country now that is the leading deployer
00:05:55
of electric vehicles on the streets or
00:05:57
you know where there's so much
00:05:58
Prosperity that was unimaginable 5050
00:06:01
years ago when I first came here and so
00:06:03
it's been really wonderful for me to
00:06:06
witness firsth hand and and to I've come
00:06:09
to the conclusion and most Americans
00:06:12
probably can't even tolerate that I will
00:06:14
say this but that the Chinese system has
00:06:17
worked for China Chinese system has been
00:06:20
so beneficial to hundreds of millions of
00:06:23
people whose prospects for Prosperity
00:06:27
were zero back 50 years ago were very
00:06:30
limited under the old system and so with
00:06:33
the opening with the US China bilateral
00:06:36
trade and with the global trade with
00:06:38
globalization China has has risen and so
00:06:41
I come back for business I come back to
00:06:44
promote my father's long-standing Legacy
00:06:47
interest in having uh respectful
00:06:50
dialogue in having better understanding
00:06:53
in finding ways to collaborate on major
00:06:56
issues when I wear the business hat and
00:06:58
when I work kind of on behalf of my
00:07:00
father's Legacy interest I it brings me
00:07:03
back frequently this is my sixth trip to
00:07:05
China this year for example wow this
00:07:08
year W just this year yeah I mean my
00:07:10
passports already I got a brand new
00:07:12
passport it's already
00:07:14
been I really wish more American people
00:07:16
like you will come to visit China and
00:07:18
talk to us yeah I actually the only time
00:07:20
I've ever been in the presence of
00:07:22
President shei U was with a group of
00:07:26
distinguished leaders and I was asked to
00:07:29
give a speech there's like three or four
00:07:31
of us who are asked to give like a
00:07:32
three-minute presentation to the
00:07:34
president so I told him during my speech
00:07:36
that I'd been to China like 150 times or
00:07:39
something and afterwards he said you
00:07:41
need to get more people to be like you
00:07:43
just like you did you need more people
00:07:45
to come and it's true if you come and
00:07:47
visit a country and you have
00:07:49
preconceived notions of what it's going
00:07:50
to be like and those Notions are
00:07:52
challenged by the reality that the
00:07:55
people are friendly the food is great
00:07:57
the progress is tangible you can see all
00:07:59
this progress being made you know and
00:08:01
that's those are that there's real
00:08:02
evidence if you actually take time to
00:08:04
come and look at today I came from
00:08:06
Beijing on a highspeed rail MH you know
00:08:09
this Cruise along you know at a very
00:08:11
high rate and a comfortable you know
00:08:14
train car we don't have those in America
00:08:17
and and may I don't know if there's if
00:08:19
they're economically viable or
00:08:20
successful in China but it's it's
00:08:22
something that I'm kind of jealous of I
00:08:24
wish I could get on a high-speed rail to
00:08:25
go from Houston to Austin you know in my
00:08:28
state it would be makes so much sense
00:08:31
but we haven't been able to to um work
00:08:33
around regulations or the you know
00:08:35
restrictions to get it done China gets
00:08:38
things
00:08:38
done I've also visited America many
00:08:41
times and talked to a lot of local
00:08:43
people there and I find a lot of people
00:08:46
actually very nice to us yes but of
00:08:49
course there there's certain amount of
00:08:51
misunderstandings misin informations
00:08:53
once they uh know that I'm from China so
00:08:57
and I think the other day I saw the news
00:08:59
that I think the House of Representative
00:09:01
passed a bill to raise to use $1.6
00:09:04
billion US dollars to deliver anti-china
00:09:07
narratives overseas so I mean really I
00:09:10
didn't see that yeah there's a news so
00:09:12
like it's possible that we're passing
00:09:14
into law so there's a effort in certain
00:09:17
like misinform so with that um
00:09:20
misinformation and cause certain
00:09:22
misunderstandings how can we bring the
00:09:24
people from both countries together to
00:09:26
make sure we understand each other yeah
00:09:28
I don't that's very difficult to I have
00:09:30
no idea how that's going to change I do
00:09:32
think that we're at a low E I do think
00:09:34
there's going to be Improvement in the
00:09:36
ties and I think they're going to be
00:09:37
more direct and more transparent and
00:09:40
accurate Communications about facts you
00:09:43
know what China's motives are you know
00:09:45
how tariffs affect individual consumers
00:09:48
in America and all those kinds of things
00:09:49
and eventually things will will swing
00:09:52
back to a more positive direction but
00:09:55
yeah you're right right now America have
00:09:57
you ever heard of the book Destin for
00:09:59
war um it's a book by a by a professor
00:10:02
from Harvard who did a study of 16 cases
00:10:07
where an established power like the
00:10:08
United States that the strongest power
00:10:11
faces a rising power in today's world
00:10:13
China is a rising power and in uh 12 of
00:10:17
the 16 cases it ended up in war this is
00:10:20
over the past 600 years ended up in war
00:10:23
and the reason it is the that that a
00:10:25
rising power established power end up in
00:10:28
war is because the established power
00:10:30
feels threatened by the rise and as a
00:10:33
and they make up these claims that the
00:10:34
rising power wants to take over and be
00:10:36
the most powerful force on the Earth or
00:10:38
the rising power is going to take over
00:10:40
my economy or the rising power you know
00:10:42
what I mean they come up with false
00:10:43
narratives there are many false
00:10:45
narratives being planted right now and I
00:10:48
think it's a direct uh directly related
00:10:50
to China's rise and the perceived threat
00:10:53
of that rise to our standard of living
00:10:55
and to our way of life and to our
00:10:57
national security you know I just don't
00:11:00
I don't believe that the rise represents
00:11:02
a threat to America so I'm so I'm I'm in
00:11:04
a different Camp than 90% of the
00:11:05
American people right now and I and I
00:11:08
agree with you that if more people could
00:11:10
come they could make their own judgment
00:11:13
and not listen to the propaganda and the
00:11:15
demagoguery of the political Elite in
00:11:18
America that make China out to be some
00:11:20
kind of devil and you know enemy and you
00:11:24
know yeah what a main drive for you to
00:11:27
continue to work and build connections
00:11:30
between China and America I'm trying my
00:11:32
best it's a very
00:11:34
lonely very lonely no I the B the George
00:11:36
hush foundation for us China relations
00:11:39
Is run by a guy that's a fluent Chinese
00:11:42
speaker um he worked in China for the US
00:11:46
state department for a long time he has
00:11:48
the same sensibility that my father had
00:11:51
about you know establishing dialogue so
00:11:53
we host dialogue between we have a
00:11:56
partyt party where the CPC group meet
00:12:01
you know has a meeting with Republicans
00:12:03
and Democrats so we we we host military
00:12:06
to military you know conversations kind
00:12:09
of track two type dialogue we have a a
00:12:11
conference every once in a while so in
00:12:13
the spirit of George HW Bush we try to
00:12:15
bring people together um and it's true
00:12:18
that if you sit in a room with somebody
00:12:19
and you look them eye to eye and you
00:12:21
listen respectfully you can't help it be
00:12:24
empathetic or you know learn from and
00:12:27
and lowers tension you know it creates
00:12:30
an kind of an opportunity for working
00:12:33
together and so we need way more of that
00:12:36
people to people government to
00:12:38
government business to business we need
00:12:40
way more interactions between both sides
00:12:43
to lower the distrust and the fear we're
00:12:47
here at the world manufacturing
00:12:49
convention yes what's your perspective
00:12:51
what's your vision for the future of
00:12:53
this manufacturing convention do you see
00:12:56
that the Europe China north America
00:13:00
Australia we can all work together I
00:13:02
hope so yeah I'm not a manufacturing
00:13:04
expert I'm not an economist but I do
00:13:07
believe that there's going to be growing
00:13:09
pressure on economies to and yeah for
00:13:12
economies to be more efficient you know
00:13:15
the Chinese are going to suffer from a
00:13:17
population decrease there's going to be
00:13:19
a bunch of old people retiring and so
00:13:21
who's going to what kind of productivity
00:13:23
is going to come to support you know the
00:13:25
retirement of these large P you need we
00:13:28
need and not just China but globally
00:13:30
there needs to be an increase in in in
00:13:33
manufacturing efficiencies you know so
00:13:36
that we can have higher rates of
00:13:37
productivity to meet the growing needs
00:13:40
of citizens around the world and so to
00:13:43
me it seems pretty logical and maybe I'm
00:13:47
I'm living at Old School thought process
00:13:49
here but globalization has worked very
00:13:52
well in helping to share best practices
00:13:55
share Technologies share Innovations and
00:13:57
that kind of thing it benefiting people
00:13:59
all across the globe and it would be my
00:14:02
hope that conferences like this and
00:14:05
others around the world can lead to to
00:14:08
more like um um joint research for
00:14:13
Innovation like real applications to
00:14:16
help increase efficiencies in
00:14:19
manufacturing in manufacturing globally
00:14:22
I don't know so I I I hope this is the
00:14:23
kind of thing that that will be a
00:14:25
positive influence on on making the
00:14:27
world a better place and I'm Happ happy
00:14:29
to be here thank you so much sir
