Michael Schuman, Columnist

The Wrong Way to Pressure China

Too many mergers are being upheld without a clear rationale.

January 16, 2018 at 9:00 PM UTC

Michael Schuman is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub and the author of "Superpower Interrupted: The Chinese History of the World" and "The Miracle: The Epic Story of Asia's Quest for Wealth."

Clarity needed.
Photographer: STR/AFP/Getty

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Is the U.S. finally taking a tougher stand on China? Last week, AT&T Inc. walked away from a partnership with Huawei Technologies Co., possibly due to Washington’s worries about espionage. A week earlier, Ant Financial dropped its long-delayed acquisition of MoneyGram International Inc. after failing to win approval from a crucial U.S. government committee.

Such a stand was probably inevitable, whoever occupied the White House. By showing almost no willingness to open its markets more widely or to scale back its efforts to promote local firms, China has all but invited its trading partners to retaliate.