Keynote Speech by Prof. Kishore Mahbubani

At the INSIGHT FORUM” organised by Our Hong Kong Foundation, eminent global thinker Professor Kishore Mahbubani called on the US to hit the pause button” on its geopolitical contest against China amidst the raging global pandemic. Prof Mahbubani, who is a Distinguished Fellow at National University of Singapore’s Asia Research Institute, pointed out that the US trade war against China had hurt the American economy without solving the underlying economic concerns it was meant to resolve. Such policies have not raised America’s standing in the world, neither have they weakened China significantly nor led to the progressive isolation of China from most countries. He said that the Biden administration should press the pause button” on the contest, especially when billions of people around the world are suffering from the massive economic recession caused by Covid-19. The only way to jumpstart the global economy is for the world’s two leading powers to work together.