Raising the Drawbridge by Lily Mcelwee

Raising the Drawbridge by Lily Mcelwee

From headline-grabbing acquisitions to bold venture capital bets, Chinese money began pouring into the U.S. soon after the Global Financial Crisis. The Obama administration welcomed new growth drivers as key to economic recovery. But just years later, Congress passed the most sweeping overhaul of U.S. investment rules in half a century—aimed squarely at China.

This book tells the story of that remarkable pivot: how cautious optimism gave way to suspicion, how “decoupling” and “derisking” entered the political lexicon, and why these years hold the key to understanding today’s sharper, more guarded U.S. approach to interdependence with China. 

Drawing on first-hand interviews with administration officials, congressional staff, and the lawyers, lobbyists, and labor activists involved in raising the drawbridge to Chinese investment in the United States, it’s essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the forces reshaping global business, finance, and geopolitics and the 21^st century’s most important bilateral relationship.

Dr. Lily McElwee is a nonprofit executive and an expert in Chinese foreign policy and Beijing’s relations with advanced economies. She holds degrees from the University of Oxford and Stanford University.