China not an economic threat: former Australian official

BEIJING, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- The United States insists on treating China as an economic threat but fails to recognize how the Asian country's economic advancement has benefited the world, a former Australian official has said.

Confronted with domestic problems such as "wage stagnation" and "rising inequality," the United States is unwilling to admit that "it is their fault when they start going backwards."

Instead, it looks for someone else to blame, with China's economic progress emerging as a convenient scapegoat, said Michael Keating, a retired Australian senior public servant, in an article published recently on public policy journal Pearls and Irritations.

Specifically, Keating refuted the so-called Chinese car threat. He listed several good reasons for welcoming Chinese passenger vehicles -- such as electric vehicles -- rather than seeing them as a threat, including competitive consumer pricing and decarbonization.

"In Australia's case, we are likely to benefit from an increase in Chinese car market share," he said.