Yale macro economist Stephen Roach draws 3 major conclusions with respect to the Chinese long-run view of the current tech trade conflict with America. First, the Chinese Xi administration would never lose legitimacy due to subpar 5.5%-to-6.3% real GDP economic growth. China retains more fiscal and monetary policy levers than global growth headwinds. Second, Chinese hawkish hardliners remain patient and methodical when they deal with external wildcards. These external wildcards include U.S. partisanship and economic policy uncertainty, Brexit trade and capital exodus, and diplomatic outrage in the South China Sea.

Third, the 5G tech titan HuaWei is a big deal and national champion for China. As China seeks to trudge on the long march toward tech supremacy, U.S. tech trade strategists should consider alternative approaches instead of the current legalistic approach to Sino-U.S. trade conflict resolution. It would be a symbolic loss of state dignity and sovereignty for China to agree to signing into law U.S. trade terms and conditions on intellectual property protection and enforcement. Alternatively, U.S. trade reps should focus on direct dispute negotiations between U.S. and Chinese tech corporations through the extant inland and international arbitration tribunals. This alternative mechanism may nevertheless favor domestic firms in China.