US foolish to start another Cold War, says Jack Ma

world’s top two economies, Alibaba Group executive and vice chairman Joe Tsai warned the dispute was veering towards becoming a “cold war or geopolitical war started by the United States”.

“I think what the United States is doing is a reaction to an unfounded fear that China’s rise is somehow going to threaten the national security and well- being of the American people,” said Tsai, who is also the chairman of SCMP ( which is owned by Alibaba Group). But, he argued, that is a foolish view because the world economy is interconnected and hence interdependent.

“It is really ill- advised for the United States to launch a war of some sort targeting China thinking that they can treat China like the way they treated Russia by isolating the economy and bringing on pain,” Tsai said speaking on a panel looking at ‘ Disruptions in Southeast Asia’ due to new technological applications. “We are so integrated that the pain is going to be felt all over the world,” he said.

Real motive for trade war

In the opening address at the two- day forum, former Hong Kong leader Leung Chun- ying questioned the real motive for Trump’s trade war. He suggested that though the focus on the trade dispute is on the need for the US to reduce its trade imbalance with China, “what has not been discussed fully is that the US does not have the capacity to produce all the goods it needs.”

In the new technology- driven business environment in Asia, Malaysian businessman, Dr. Francis Yeoh Sock- ping, executive chairman of the YTL group of companies argues that it is innovative companies rather than governments that shape the new economic architecture.

“In China, Alibaba came up by chance not by design because China ( the government) fears the Internet,” he told a panel discussion moderated by SCMP’s business editor Eugene Tang. “Alibaba did the economic solutions for the people and people loved it,” he said.

Yeoh believes that it is necessary to have government regulators. “What you need is a trusted government regulator. The regulator must be there,” he argued, but the system needs to be transparent, “so others can’t criticize it.”

In a panel where four young entrepreneurs discussed how to tap into 700 million consumers in Southeast Asia, Victor Tseng, chief communication officer of Ctrip, a leading Chinese travel portal, said that they are building a big global supply chain because increasing numbers of people in the region are traveling within and outside the region, most of them young people.

Anita Ngai, chief revenue officer of Klook, another Chinese internet- driven travel company, said they have built Asia’s biggest travel portal. “China has about 90 million traveling each year while Southeast Asia has about 50 million independent travelers every year and these number are growing,” she noted. Recently, her firm held a travel fair over a weekend at a large mall in Manila, which was attended by over 40,000 people.

“The Philippines has one of the world’s largest online population, but many don’t want to do online transactions,” ex-

into local behavior and we introduced a pre-paid card putting elements to localize transactions.”

Young Singaporean technopreneur Hian Goh argued in a panel looking at Asian start- ups, that Southeast Asia has so much ability to expand. “There is no need to go to Europe or North America ( for technology),” he said. “The success of technology companies in Southeast Asia will depend on using local labor ( techno talent) force to go global.” In a light- hearted comment he pointed out: “Chinese were learning English 20 years ago, now we hire Chinese to teach Chinese to us.”

seen here from young Asian technoprenuers is an indication that America’s trade war with China is perhaps sending missiles in the wrong direction.