Damage of U.S. "decoupling" or "de-risking" from China goes beyond trade: media

HONG KONG, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Whether the United States calls it "decoupling" or "de-risking" from China, the damage goes beyond trade, reported the South China Morning Post, a Hong Kong-based English-language daily.

"Decoupling" or "de-risking" places dubious strategic and geopolitical advantage above the sound economic principle of comparative advantage, decreasing efficiency and increasing costs in the process, Anthony Rowley, a veteran journalist specializing in Asian economic and financial affairs, wrote in an opinion piece for the daily.

It fosters protectionist, even isolationist attitudes, eroding multilateralism as it progresses, and it poisons and sours the atmosphere of international cooperation, eventually inducing hostility, he said, noting that none of these are the hallmarks of true leadership.