China uses "sharp power" to force Western companies to do its bidding.
We, the people of the West, can use our own sharp power against China.
Tell big corporations they must choose between doing business in China OR in America and Europe, because they can no longer do both.
We, the people of the West, can use our own sharp power against China.
Tell big corporations they must choose between doing business in China OR in America and Europe, because they can no longer do both.
The Chinese have demonstrated beyond all doubt that their system is fundamentally incompatible with the civilized world. It's time to disengage, quickly, on a massive scale. We CAN compel our corporations to do that, with enough public pressure. They won't like it.
The growing Chinese market means a lot of money for Western corporations, but their home markets are far more important. Forced to choose between China and the U.S./Europe, they will choose the latter. They can't survive without their Western customers.
Likewise with Hollywood. If we make it clear that no co-production with any Chinese Communist production company or investor will sell tickets in the United States, Hollywood will finally tell China's censors to get bent. We CAN force that to happen, all of us, together.
The political elite of the West *could* do their part - for example, China should be ejected from all global trade organizations - but don't hold your breath waiting for them to take the lead. WE must lead. They will eventually, reluctantly follow.
Disengagement with China will have a cost, of course, and the people of the West will feel it. You can't sacrifice that much money from trade without an economic impact. The Chinese Communists think we're too soft and greedy to make such a sacrifice. Let's prove them wrong.
The Chinese market doesn't just give the communists leverage over our businesses and media. It gives them enormous leverage over our politicians. Pockets in Washington are stuffed with Chinese money. We cannot end that corruption without disengaging from Chinese markets.
The warning signs have been clear for years and are now too obvious to ignore. There is no such thing as a "free" or "independent" Chinese enterprise. They are ALL instruments of the Chinese Communist Party. Their market is likewise an instrument of political control.
We should want no part of that. Leave the Communists to rot in isolation, with no power over their own captive people, who will hopefully tire of oppression and eventually get rid of the Communists as the price for rejoining the world economy.
The solons of past decades were wrong. Engagement hasn't liberalized China in the least. It's getting more illiberal and exporting authoritarianism. Admit the mistake and reverse it, right now, before things get even worse. We can demand it of our companies, starting today. /end
Addendum: It will be argued that disengagement leaves us with no leverage to pressure China on human rights issues. If that leverage wasn't enough to stop them from herding people into LITERAL CONCENTRATION CAMPS, then what good is it?
