In 2024, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai will come to Europa to hold US-EU talks with senior EU officials. In an interview with reporters, Dai Qi shouted to the outside world: "China has a strong central collective, which has given birth to a very efficient economic system. ”
As soon as these remarks came out, European and American media reporters and high-ranking officials in suits and leather shoes were very surprised, and they wondered in their hearts: "Is this still a US business representative? Why did you start praising China's economic system?" ”
The content of this article is based on authoritative historical data, and there are citations at the end of the article
Before everyone could come to their senses, Dai Qi continued: "Under China's economic oppression, our economy is in a state of difficult survival. The mobile phone industry and the new energy vehicle industry are facing huge challenges. ”
At this time, senior European and American officials realized that Dai Qi meant that the EU "should stop talking about morality, and the Western economic system and China are not rivals in legitimate competition." Therefore, Europe and the United States need to work together to deal with the impact of China's economy on the existing global economic system. ”
"Banana Man" Dai Qi
For the Chinese, hating the traitor, and even the enemy, Dai Qi undoubtedly belongs to the "Chinese traitor" in the broad sense. Dai Qi, who is "yellow-skinned and white-hearted", netizens ridiculed him as a "banana man".
"Banana people", as the name suggests, are the descendants of Chinese immigrants who have unknowingly abandoned traditional Chinese culture due to the influence of mainstream American culture. Generally refers to the second generation of Chinese descendants, referred to as "ABC", that is, born in the United States, raised in the United States, but the parents are Chinese.
However, "for banana people", they grew up in the culture of their Chinese parents, and they will also be baptized by traditional Chinese culture.
As a result, the descendants of Chinese immigrants belong to a very special group, which is not accepted by Chinese culture, but also despised by strange groups because of their appearance and skin color, and wanders between two different cultures, seeking identity.
Dai Qi is a typical "banana person", and her experience is simply tailor-made for "ABC". On March 18, 1974, Dai Qi was born in Connecticut, USA, and his ancestral home is Funing, Yancheng, Jiangsu.
Dai Qi's grandfather, Dai Peizhi, settled on the island of Taiwan with Chiang Kai-shek when the Kuomintang was defeated. His maternal grandfather's name was Li Hongji, and he was a member of Taiwan's first legislator.
Dai Qi's parents were born in mainland China, grew up in Taiwan, and were admitted to Taiwan University before going to the United States to continue their studies. Perhaps for the freedom of the West, or for the pursuit of a more superior life, Dai Qi's parents stayed in the United States and naturalized as soon as they graduated.
From the choices of the three generations of his family at the juncture of life, it can be seen that the Dai family is a refined egoist, and it is difficult to say how noble and great the sentiment is.
As for the rumors on the Internet that Dai Qi is the daughter of Dai Yikuan, the grandson of Dai Li, the head of the Kuomintang military command, this is completely false, and there is no definite evidence to prove this.
However, Dai Qi's father, Dai Yuanheng, was engaged in a profession that was really closely related to the military. Dai Yuanheng was taciturn and didn't like to talk before his death, so he was nicknamed "Dai Widow" by his friends.
However, Dai Yuanheng has a high IQ and is extremely hard at reading, and before his death, he worked as a researcher at the Walter Reed Army Research Institute, specializing in analyzing the situation in the Taiwan Strait. In 2019, Dai Yuanheng died due to old age and frailty, and unfortunately fell in an accident.
Dai Qi's parents were not naturalized when he was born, but according to the U.S. Constitution, he was born in the U.S. and automatically acquired U.S. citizenship. As a result, Dai Qi is the first U.S. citizen in a family of four.
As a young man, Dai grew up in Washington, D.C., and later attended the Sidwell Friendship School, a quality private school.
I have to say that Dai Qi is a veritable "scholar", from elementary school to high school, the grades in every subject are A, and he has become the "sweet and sweet" of Ivy League schools all the way.
With his outstanding academic performance, Yale University, Harvard University, and California Institute of Technology, three top universities, have extended olive branches to Dai Qi.
In the end, Dai Qi chose to join Yale, mainly because Yale is Dai Yuanheng's alma mater and is also rich in political celebrities. Soon after, Dai earned a B.A. in History from Yale University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
What many people don't know is that Dai Qi is different from the usual "ABC", she can speak Chinese fluently, and she also came to the mainland as a lecturer at Yale-China Association from 1996 to 1998 and worked as a professor at Sun Yat-sen University.
The three-year teaching career not only added a strong stroke to her life experience, but more importantly, Dai Qi truly understood Chinese culture, at least made her become half a "China expert", knew the thinking habits of Chinese, knew how to deal with Chinese, and added weight to become a US trade representative in the future.
But in her bones, Dai Qi is still an American, and she will not betray the United States.
In 2023, in his third year as U.S. Trade Representative, Dai attended and spoke at the 80th anniversary of the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act at the U.S. Capitol.
"This country [refers to the United States] is a land of freedom for all countries and for all...... Our Declaration of Independence has only one idea; ”
From Dai Qi's speech, it is clear that a message is conveyed that Dai Qi believes in American-style freedom and identifies with the foundation of the United States.
Later, Dai Qi said that "tensions between the United States and the People's Republic of China could make the situation worse." Our bilateral relationship is complex and important, and there are real challenges. But we need to be rigorous in defining what is and isn't the challenge. ”
It can be seen that Dai Qi's national identity is also the United States, not Greater China, and China is identified as the biggest competitor of the United States.
Dai Qi, who took office
After Obama came to power, he vigorously reused the "banana people" group, such as Locke and others. Time has passed, and it is also a policy. It is the turn of Biden, the "American rarity", to change the employment policy, pursue "diversity", and reuse not only Chinese, but also Latinos, African-Americans, etc.
In terms of US foreign trade, the most important trade object, needless to say, is naturally the "factory of the world" - China. Under the constraints of these two important factors, the US Trade Representative must have excellent professional knowledge, preferably professional experience in trade, and understand the behavior and thinking habits of Chinese.
As a result, Dai Qi stood out and became one of Biden's candidate lists. In the 90s, Dai Qi ended his teaching career and obtained a lawyer's license in the United States.
From 2007 to 2014, Dai served as an advisor to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Many people don't know about the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) for short, but here is a brief explanation.
The USTR is the primary agency for formulating and adjusting U.S. policies on international trade and trade-related investment, intellectual property, etc., representing the U.S. government in economic and trade negotiations with other countries, and is accountable to the President and Congress.
In 1988, after the USTR reform, the "1988" system was formed, which created a new balance between the prefectural councils and the Council in foreign economic policy, and had a dual effect.
On the one hand, the USTR reconciles the different opinions of various bureaucrats and interest groups within the government on trade policy, so that the power of trade decision-making that has been dispersed by the legacy is concentrated.
On the other hand, the USTR is more sensitive to the protectionist calls of interest groups than the rest of the executive branch, thus making the U.S. free trade policy more conservative.
Dai Qi has a wealth of work experience, which led Biden to finally choose her to nominate as U.S. Trade Representative.
Subsequently, at a hearing held by the Senate Finance Committee on February 25, 2021, Dai Qi was endorsed by members of the U.S. Finance Committee.
On March 17, Tai Qi voted 98 in favor, and no one objected to the smooth appointment of the United States Trade Representative. In the eyes of the Republicans and Democrats, the position of trade representative is none other than Dai Qi, and she has also won the unanimous trust of both parties.
Dai Qi gave a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in which she put forward her trade views, claiming to "handle trade relations with China in a completely new way."
This so-called "new approach" is different from the previous Trump administration. In Dai Qi's view, the Trump administration seems to be aggressive in trade with China, but in fact it is still on the defensive, and it will take offensive means to force China to make concessions.
This is true, Dai Qi did not suggest that the Biden administration cancel the tariff increase strategy in the "trade war", but launched four specific measures for dialogue trade.
First, it is necessary to assess China's performance in the phase one of the economic and trade agreements to see whether it has kept its commitments and whether there are any violations.
Second, second, in line with the interests of the US economy, initiate a targeted tariff exclusion process.
Third, continue to focus on what China calls "state-centric non-market trade practices and defend the norms of free trade." "Unilateral trade measures, including the launch of a Section 301 investigation and the imposition of new tariffs, are not ruled out to maintain pressure on China.
Fourth, the United States will work with its allies to forge fair trade rules for the 21st century, pushing market economies and democracies to compete at the top.
At the beginning of the article, Dai Qi called for working with the EU to confront China's economy, which is the concrete embodiment of Article 4.
On March 29, 2024, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai released the 2024 Country Trade Review Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, which specifically mentioned China's policies and practices in agricultural products, non-market policies, and data policies that contribute to government abuses.
The implication is that this state intervention has severely distorted and disrupted markets, leading to severe and persistent overcapacity.
At a hearing in April, Dai urged Congress to come up with a bill and use trade policy tools to deal with China's economic threat. From Dai Qi's tough attitude towards China, from the perspective of the Chinese, it should be appropriate to call her an "authentic banana person".
Epilogue:
As a "banana man", Dai Qi has to serve the United States, which is actually quite normal. However, the "banana people" are struggling in the gap between Chinese and Western cultures, and have become "marginal people" who cannot reach both ends.
I'm afraid Dai Qi himself hasn't really felt this. Dai Qi, who has been educated in the United States since he was a child, will not identify with Chinese culture at all, let alone have a sense of belonging.
After all, Dai Qi is an American who believes in American-style freedom through and through, and she should not be expected to be friendly to China.
Resources
Analysis of the Phenomenon of Chinese "Banana People", a study of contemporary youth
"What Signal Does U.S. Trade Policy Toward China Release?", China News Weekly, No. 39, 2021
"Dai Qi: The Biden administration is taking a hard look at various trade defense tools" AFP