“It has been two weeks since the doors to the Chinese market slammed shut to Lithuanian products.
Accounting for just 0.2 per cent of global exports, the Baltic nation’s problem is negligible for the rest of the world. But it is just the latest example of China wielding a weapon against which other countries have yet to find a shield: coercive economic statecraft.”
China was literally a tumor that we all accepted and now ridding ourselves of their carcinogenic products and cheap manufacturing is going to coerce us into accepting their abysmal human rights records and efforts to topple western freedoms.
It seems like the EU needs to act more forcefully, before it sets a precedent that it won’t act when member states are (unofficially) sanctioned.
Threatening to go to the WTO and *debating* a new counter-sanctions regime just aren’t sufficient..
It’s not the tactic in itself, it’s the fact we have let China in for decades, now it’s a bit late to act without getting bite in the ass.
I wish for China to be more and more aggressive, our politicians won’t act until the house is on fire, bring on the fuel.
Good article.
All of this was very predictable.
“Every country uses economic coercion in some way — the US has a whole sanctions regime,” The Lithuanian politicians have made their people suffer probably for not much payback. Morally correct but econimically it will hurt.
The only way to counter this is to effectively create a western led alliance that all counter trade coercion quickly.
Almost like a NATO for trade.
It’s quite ironic that the trolls who cheerlead for the EU to sanction countries they don’t like. But if another country uses its economic power to sanction then all the trolls get angry.
8 comments
“It has been two weeks since the doors to the Chinese market slammed shut to Lithuanian products.
Accounting for just 0.2 per cent of global exports, the Baltic nation’s problem is negligible for the rest of the world. But it is just the latest example of China wielding a weapon against which other countries have yet to find a shield: coercive economic statecraft.”
China was literally a tumor that we all accepted and now ridding ourselves of their carcinogenic products and cheap manufacturing is going to coerce us into accepting their abysmal human rights records and efforts to topple western freedoms.
It seems like the EU needs to act more forcefully, before it sets a precedent that it won’t act when member states are (unofficially) sanctioned.
Threatening to go to the WTO and *debating* a new counter-sanctions regime just aren’t sufficient..
It’s not the tactic in itself, it’s the fact we have let China in for decades, now it’s a bit late to act without getting bite in the ass.
I wish for China to be more and more aggressive, our politicians won’t act until the house is on fire, bring on the fuel.
Good article.
All of this was very predictable.
“Every country uses economic coercion in some way — the US has a whole sanctions regime,” The Lithuanian politicians have made their people suffer probably for not much payback. Morally correct but econimically it will hurt.
The only way to counter this is to effectively create a western led alliance that all counter trade coercion quickly.
Almost like a NATO for trade.
It’s quite ironic that the trolls who cheerlead for the EU to sanction countries they don’t like. But if another country uses its economic power to sanction then all the trolls get angry.
They are easy to counter
Boycott Chinese goods