Stopping Chinese trade coercion

The recent visit of US Secretary of State  Antony Blinken to China was meant to ease tension between the two countries. However, recent reports seem to indicate that this visit has not been successful due to recent events. There was, for example, a report a few days ago that at least five Chinese warships were positioned around the island of Taiwan. Chinese warplanes have also been reported to be violating Taiwanese air space. There is of course the continuous occupation by China of reefs and territory within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Philippines. The harassment of Filipino fishermen in Philippine territorial waters is still continuing.

The Philippine government is finally planning to elevate this wanton violation of Philippine territorial sovereignty to the United Nations. I can only say that it is about time that this violation is brought to the attention of the world.

While this tension has captured the attention of the world, the most effective tool of China in coercing other countries to either keep silent or support its imperial policy is its weaponization of foreign trade. Over the last few years, Beijing has tried to use this weapon, especially on countries that interact with Taiwan or supported democracy in Hong Kong. Because of the strength of the Chinese economy and its global trading strength, this coercive behavior has led to major successes.

The threat of a Chinese trade boycott has led to countries and businesses staying quiet about Beijing’s human rights abuses. Even France, in a visit of President Macron to China to drum up more Chinese trade, stated that the China threat should not be relevant to Europe. This was purely a self-serving statement because Macron stated that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was a global threat, and at the same time Chinese abuses were not a concern of Europe.

For example, the Chinese Communist Party has been guilty of human rights abuses and even genocide on the Muslim minority in Xinjiang province of China. However, almost all countries, even Muslim countries, have been too afraid to sanction Chinese behavior. There have been many examples in the recent past of China’s use of coercive power in terms of trade.

For example, there was a time when China suddenly stopped importing bananas from the Philippines just as the territorial issue on Scarborough Shoal was pressed by the Philippines. This ban was lifted in 2016 presumably because a new administration sent diplomatic signals that it would not pursue Philippine territorial claims as aggressively.

There were many other examples of similar coercive behavior. In 2010, after a Norwegian committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to a Chinese dissident, Beijing heavily restricted imports of Norwegian salmon. In 2016, after South Korea agreed to host a US missile system, Beijing forced the Korea-based Lotte group to close down its stores in China. It also restricted the sale of group tours to South Korea of Chinese travelers.

In 2012, Toyota’s manufacturing plants in China were shut down by Chinese “protesters” due to tensions between the two countries over the Senkaku Islands, which are administered by Tokyo but are claimed by Beijing. More than 40 airlines including American, Delta and United have stopped referring to Taiwan as a separate country on their websites after receiving menacing letters from China. In 2021, Chinese state media encouraged a boycott of the Swedish retailer H&M after the company expressed concern about forced labor in Xinjiang.

There is apparent evidence that this weaponizing of trade has received several successes. For example, many democracies like South Korea remained silent when China passed a national security law in Hong Kong suppressing democracy. Norwegian leaders, after the salmon boycott, refused to meet with the Dalai Lama when he visited in 2014. The Dalai Lama has been leading a global movement to restore independence to Tibet which has been forcibly annexed by China.

In 2019, after the GAP clothing company released a t-shirt design with a map of China that did not include Taiwan and Tibet, it issued a public apology and removed the shirt from sale. According to several organizations – including The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs and the human rights nonprofit PEN America – Hollywood companies will not produce films that cast China in a negative light for fear of losing ticket sales.

These examples show that any single country cannot withstand the economic pressure from China.  Beijing’s objective is clear – which is to force governments and companies to respect and defer to Chinese interests.

According to Victor Cha, professor of government at Georgetown University in his article on stopping Chinese coercion: “Part of China’s hubris in practicing economic coercion against its trade partners comes from confidence that the targets will not dare counter sanctions with concrete action… but these states can fight back if they work together or, in other words, practice collective resilience… Australia, Japan, South Korea and the United States may individually be at a disadvantage but they account for nearly 30 percent of China’s imports…”

These four countries can be joined by other countries that Beijing has coerced in the past like Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Japan and the United Kingdom. These nations produce critical products on which China is especially dependent.

The rest of the world must have the political will to band together to stop Chinese trade and economic coercion.

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Tomorrow, Writefest 2023 features Mae Coyiuto, author of Chloe and the Kaishao Boys published by Penguin Random House, the first YA title from a Philippine-based author. Mae will interact with young writers during the session at Fully Booked BGC.