If the investment bans won't "fundamentally hurt" China then, er, why bother?
Why does anyone take her statement at face value...?
This is
obvious propaganda to make it seem like the US is being "measured" and "moderate"; that it's a "responsible" power; that it's "not at fault" for the deterioration of relations; that it's China that's being irrational and not responsible.
In short, it's political gas lighting designed to cast China as the criminal bad guy, while the US, the generous, merciful super power that, despite being pushed by China at every turn, tries its best to compromise and make peace.
But is that what's actually happening? One look at the chips restrictions and its gradual tightening can show you the US is anything but restrained. Even the New York Times admitted that it was equivalent to a declaration of war.
The investment restriction will be no different. The US is trying to cast it as insignificant, without mentioning it's targeting all of the most important fields for Industry 4.0. Which just so happens to be the same fields that investors are pouring money into right now.
Outside of AI, quantum computing, chips - and I'm sure in the near future, electric vehicle batteries will also be included in the list - what exactly are investors going to invest in China for? Cheap manufacturing? Real estate? Restaurants? E-commerce? None of those industries need money or have much room for growth. And every advanced industry where China has potential will sooner or later be targeted by the US government, so if you were an American investor, why would you risk investing anything in China, knowing you could get screwed at any time?
Make no mistake, the investment bans as a policy are a highly aggressive move that'll do a lot of damage to foreign investments in China. Just because the US pretends it's not, doesn't make it so.