Dr. Stephen Roach said the shared U.S.-China language on stability obscures a lack of strategic alignment, a judgment he offered in a wide-ranging interview published by The Straits Times.
The Straits Times published the conversation Oct. 30 in its Asian Insider podcast, hosted by U.S. Bureau Chief Bhagyashree Garekar. The newspaper said both governments favor “constructive, strategic stability” as a concept for describing their ties.
Roach argued the description gives the relationship a strategic appearance it does not deserve. He called it a mirage and said, “There’s nothing strategic about it.” He added that stability was the most China could reasonably hope to secure from the relationship.
Roach said Hong Kong’s market-oriented identity had been badly damaged, blaming what he called an “unfriendly takeover” by mainland Chinese. He rejected the charge that anti-Hong Kong bias colored his views, calling that claim “absolutely ludicrous.”
The Straits Times reported that Roach urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to approach a possible agreement with U.S. President Donald Trump cautiously. Xi visited Washington for a summit with Trump in September 2026.
A Democratic majority in Congress would not, in Roach’s assessment, amount to a political turning point, The Straits Times reported. The U.S. midterm elections are scheduled for Nov. 3, 2026.
Roach called Trump’s portrayal of the United States as the world’s “hottest economy” an exaggeration, saying weak growth elsewhere made it look stronger by comparison, The Straits Times reported. He also said a bank-driven financial collapse on the scale of the Great Depression was unlikely.
A Straits Times profile accompanying the interview says Roach spent 30 years at Morgan Stanley, where he served as chief economist and later chaired Morgan Stanley Asia. The profile describes his current role as senior fellow with the Paul Tsai China Center at Yale Law School.
