November 3. 2020 | Written By - Madie Malbasa ‘23
In the 20th century, Americans generally thought that no communist regime, nor any authoritarian government, could stimulate a good economy or provide its people with a decent standard of living. It was thought that a free economy was directly linked to a free society and that by giving control to the consumer, a government must hand over political rights to its constituents. Yet, even as many communist countries have reformed their economy to be nearly, if not simply, capitalist, that line of thinking has continually been proven wrong. China, for example, has an economy which is quite nearly capitalist, a transformation applauded by the West, yet it still maintains policies of censorship and conformity through an authoritarian government.
Currently, American industry is in direct competition with China. China has the largest workforce in the world and a government that allows companies to pay their laborers minute salaries. This causes companies to move to China, to increase their profits by paying less for labor. Even some products that are labeled “Made in (insert country here)” are actually made to 95% completion in China and then touched up in other countries where they smack on a “made in (insert country here)” label and sell it across the globe. This process undercuts sanctions placed upon China and allows companies to dodge answering important questions about the livelihood of their workers. None of this is inherently evil, but it means that sanctions and other economic pressures will not work effectively on China.
China is pulling itself up from its twentieth century state. Across the globe, it is investing in ports as part of a new “maritime Silk Road.” Many of the ports are owned or operated by Chinese companies—notably the Greek port of Piraeus, which, as of 2016, is completely owned by COSCO, a Chinese corporation. Their workers were prevented from unionizing, but as the port is the largest source of jobs in the area, the Greek government did not want to intervene. In addition, intervention may cost the Greek government their relations with China.
Though conditions in Chinese-owned ports are not ideal, until 2015 China drew a line in the sand when it came to overseas bases. Chinese President Xi Jinping consistently opposed the many American military bases across the globe. But in November of 2015, China announced plans for its first overseas military base to the world. The Chinese are expected to create other overseas bases as well.
China’s investment in ports is not in itself bad, nor is its new interest in creating overseas military bases. However, in a time when the news cycle is controlled by the latest atrocious thing said by Trump, China’s steady advance is often overlooked. As America has antagonized China and much of the rest of the world, we have practically encouraged China to gather the countries of the world together on its own terms. We have ostracized our allies and thus brought them closer to China—a China which is authoritarian, a China that places profit over livelihood. Doing such things encourages other countries to ignore China’s lack of liberty for its people. America has an important position on the world stage and it should press for civil liberties in China and across the globe. We should not jeopardize our influence by estranging our allies.
Comments