Encircling the Core: China’s Periphery-Driven Tech Strategy

The Chinese revolutionary strategy of “Encircling the Cities from the Countryside,” famously employed by Mao Zedong against the Kuomintang, offers a striking metaphor for modern marketing. Just as Mao began by gaining influence in rural peripheries before advancing toward urban centers, businesses can adopt a similar approach by entering underserved or niche market segments before … Read more

Beyond Zero-Sum Rivalry: Ren Zhengfei’s Pragmatic AI Vision

In November 2025, the International Collegiate Programming Contest(ICPC) Beijing headquarters published minutes from a meeting between ICPC President Ren Zhengfei, coaches, and winning contestants, revealing a stance toward the United States marked by rational pragmatism, respect, inclusiveness, and a clear preference for cooperation over confrontation. Against the backdrop of intensifying Sino-US technological competition, Ren’s remarks … Read more

Ren Zhengfei’s Global Vision and Huawei’s Strategic Rise

Ren Zhengfei’s first journey beyond China occurred in 1992, when he and a Huawei delegation departed from Hong Kong, transited through Tokyo, and traveled across the United States. Their itinerary covered Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Dallas, Las Vegas, Silicon Valley, and Los Angeles. During the trip, they visited several leading power-supply companies—CP, Texas Instruments, and … Read more

Individualism and the U.S. Anti-Communist Lens on China

Western societies tend to prioritize core principles such as individual rights, democratic decision-making, the rule of law, competitive markets, transparency, minimal government corruption, independent media, and freedoms of thought, conscience, and expression. While these principles are cherished in Western societies, there is a tendency to assume that others, such as the Chinese, share the same … Read more

China’s Rise: Trade War, “Overcapacity,” and Western Decline

Before 2010, China primarily exported labor-intensive, low value-added products to developed countries while importing high value-added, capital- and technology-intensive goods from the West. Over time, however, China’s industrial upgrading has accelerated, and its exports have shifted toward higher value-added, capital- and technology-intensive products that increasingly compete directly with developed economies. Western, particularly U.S., accusations of … Read more

Huawei vs. GE: Long-Term Innovation Over Short-Term Profits

Huawei’s founder, Ren Zhengfei, adopted a markedly different approach from Jack Welch’s strategy of financialization and downsizing. While Welch emphasized short-term shareholder gains and cost-cutting—even at the expense of manufacturing and employees—Ren focused on long-term industrial growth, technological capability, and self-reliance. In contrast to Welch’s approach, Huawei’s strategies actively strengthened China’s industrial base and fostered … Read more

Reviving America’s Mixed Economy: Lessons from U.S. and China

In American Amnesia: How the War on Government Led Us to Forget What Made America Prosper (2016), Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson argue that beginning in the late 1970s, the United States experienced a powerful ideological shift. Conservative movements and corporate interests championed “market fundamentalism”—the belief that government intervention inevitably stifles growth and freedom. This … Read more

Cultural Roots Behind China’s Divergence from the Soviet Path

In America’s Cold War Against China: Destined to Fail (2025), Peter Nolan argues that the West’s failure to recognize the profound historical and cultural differences between China and Russia—treating China merely as a “Soviet copy”—resulted in serious strategic miscalculations[1]. He contends that China’s rise should not be viewed as an anomaly within the modern international … Read more

Cycles of U.S. Foreign Policy: Allies Becoming Future Rivals

The U.S. often supports a nation to act as a balance against a perceived threat. As time passes, that nation may grow in economic, military, and political power. Consequently, the assistance meant to protect U.S. interests can end up creating a future rival. Geography and Strategic Inexperience The United States has historically benefited from a … Read more

Why Western Strategy Pivoted from Russia to China in the 1990s

During the 1990s, Western attention gradually moved from Russia to China. This wasn’t a sudden change, but a slow realignment shaped by the Cold War’s end, the forces of globalization, and the growing recognition that China’s rise would have a much greater global impact than Russia’s waning influence. Immediate Post-Cold War Context The collapse of … Read more