Sanctions on Russia Point Way to Stopping Beijing’s Economic Aggression: Expert

Sanctions on Russia Point Way to Stopping Beijing’s Economic Aggression: Expert
People queue outside a branch of Russian state-owned bank Sberbank to withdraw their savings and close their accounts in Prague on Feb. 25, 2022, before Sberbank closed all its branches in the Czech Republic later in the day. (Michal Cizek/AFP via Getty Images)
Michael Washburn
3/11/2022
Updated:
3/11/2022
0:00
The unified response of Western democracies to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and their swift unleashing of a panoply of tough economic sanctions, offer lessons for any governments that seek to grapple with Beijing’s abusive trade and economic practices, economic coercion, and potential aggression toward Taiwan.

That’s according to Robert D. Atkinson, President of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.

“Perhaps the most important question related to these sanctions besides whether they will deter Putin, is whether this kind of economic cooperation to punish global norm transgressors can and will continue, and will it be applied to China?” Atkinson wrote in the March 9 column in the Korea Times.

In Atkinson’s view, the breadth of the sanctions brought to bear on Russia offers a useful precedent when assessing other economic and geostrategic problems. He notes that besides the far-ranging sanctions slapped on Russia’s banking system, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has issued six new export control rules targeting Russia.

One of these rules extends existing controls to such products as microelectronics, sensors, aircraft components, and navigation gear.

With a view to limiting Russia’s imports of such items from other nations, BIS instituted another rule that establishes control over products utilizing software and technology developed in the United States. That means that firms in other countries manufacturing products on the BIS export control list with the aid of U.S. technology or software are barred from exporting those products to Russia on penalty of U.S. legal action. Exemptions may be available for those foreign countries, like Korea, that have stated their intention to implement their own export controls concerning Russia, Atkinson noted.

Many companies have taken dramatic actions in response to Russia’s aggression. The most far-reaching steps, from the point of view of technology, range from yanking products from the market to shutting down online services and platforms. Apple has pulled Sputnik and RT News from its App Store, has disabled some Apple Pay services, and has ceased selling iPhones and other products in Russia.

In Atkinson’s analysis, the cumulative effect of sanctions already imposed and sanctions still to come will have nothing less than a crippling effect that will compel Russia to change course. He believes that the lessons are salient when it comes to addressing Beijing’s flouting of its World Trade Organization commitments, violation of “Phase One” trade deal promises, economic coercion, illegal import bans, and brazen promotion of intellectual property (IP) theft and forced technology transfers, to say nothing of possible future aggressive moves and against the self-ruled island of Taiwan.

The Time Is Now

The U.S. Commerce Department has already issued stern warnings to Chinese firms not to try to help Russia work its way around the myriad sanctions imposed since the invasion, and has signaled its willingness to effectively shut down manufacturers in China that supply Russia with advanced technology. Atkinson believes that some of the measures that the Commerce Department has signaled its readiness to put to use will be highly effective.

In an interview with The Epoch Times, Atkinson said that the case of Russia affirms that while unilateral sanctions may have limited results, the collective effect of sanctions imposed by a broad array of allies is overwhelming.

“If we all stand together, we can counter aggression. We should use the same practices to counter Chinese industrial aggression,” Atkinson said.

Nor does Atkinson believe that sanctions should come into play in the future when the level of daily economic and trade violations by the Chinese regime runs so high.

“I think we should do it now where it’s clear that firms have been benefiting from intellectual property theft, and have been benefiting from pretty significant Chinese government subsidies. Those are both completely unfair ways to compete,” he said. “If we know that a Chinese firm is doing that, we should say that we’re not going to buy their product.”

Atkinson identified the semiconductor trade in China as an example of a sector benefiting unduly from massive subsidies as well as IP theft and technology transfers.

He envisioned a scenario where Beijing launches an invasion of Taiwan, and suggested that some lawmakers in America are only just starting to wake up to the ramifications of such a development.

“There’s not a lot that Russia can do to us economically, but there’s a lot China can do,” he said.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company holds a dominant position in the global semiconductor industry, and if Beijing were to take over that firm and all its operations, this would have drastic consequences for the ability of U.S. firms to acquire computer chips.

“That would bring America to its knees,” Atkinson said.

Michael Washburn is a New York-based reporter who covers U.S. and China-related topics for The Epoch Times. He has a background in legal and financial journalism, and also writes about arts and culture. Additionally, he is the host of the weekly podcast Reading the Globe. His books include “The Uprooted and Other Stories,” “When We're Grownups,” and “Stranger, Stranger.”
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