A renowned Chinese-American political scientist said the tariff war initiated by the US, has no economic logic behind it and has cost the country its credibility, adding that there is no winner in such a war.

Li Cheng, a Chinese American scholar who lived in the US for nearly four decades, and was the first Chinese director of the John L Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution, a top American think tank, said in an interview during a media tour of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) that when tariffs go to 70 to 80 percent, that is enough to end any chance of business between two sides.

The absurdity of the tariffs levied by the US couldn’t be more clear when the Trump administration waged a tariff war against Hong Kong, a tariff-free city, and several islands of penguin habitats.

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“The essence of trade should be win-win. It should compensate for each other, and creates opportunities for peace”, Li said.

There were no rigorous economic algorithms behind the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, Li said.

While the current situation has put pressure on both sides, the US seems to have the heavier burden, Li said.

Li resigned from the US institute and returned to Hong Kong as a professor in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at the University of Hong Kong and founding director of the Centre for Contemporary China and the World. Li, in an interview earlier, revealed that his Chinese roots became a “negative asset (or burden)” for the Brookings Institute, where he had worked for 17 years with the growing phenomena of Chinese being excluded and marginalized in the US.

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A bigger incentive for Li to choose Hong Kong over another offer by a university in Singapore is the rise of China and the talent-rich Greater Bay Area. Hong Kong, an international metropolis, also works its charm for Li, with its stability and role of being a bridge between the Chinese mainland and the world.

Contact the writer at atlasshao@chinadailyhk.com