Beyond next summit speculation, a new book reveals lessons from the intersection of one of the world’s most complex supply chains and a superpower’s capabilities.
WonkCount: 1,327 words (~6 minutes)
Review: What Apple in China Case Reveals for Geoeconomics
Context
“Great to be back in China!” Apple executive chairman Tim Cook said this past week during his first visit to China since stepping down as CEO in September1. The visit was just the latest datapoint in how the world’s top companies are shaping their outlooks amid wider geopolitical and geoeconomic trends and developments including a shifting U.S.-China relationship and evolving trade dynamics impacting Southeast Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific region2.
Select Key Recent China-Related Global Geoeconomic Developments
A new book Apple in China by journalist Patrick McGee reveals some of the key lessons learned from the intersection of one of the world’s most complex supply chains and a superpower’s capabilities3. In doing so, it adds to a series of recent books that delve deeper into evolving global geoeconomic trends and implications for Southeast Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific region, including ones reviewed previously on ASEAN Wonk such as former U.S. official Edward Fishman’s Chokepoints and ex-IMF division chief Eswar Prasad’s The Doom Loop. “The future is deeply uncertain,” the book notes before going on to elaborate on some of the major risks ahead out to and past 20304.
Analysis
The book also highlights future datapoints to watch in this respect (see originally-generated ASEAN Wonk table below for a summary of important contours. Paying subscribers can also read the rest of the “Analysis” section and “Implications” section looking at how these dynamics play out in the future).
Future Datapoints to Watch, Alongside Major Risk Drivers and Key Components
