The world could begin to see a “significant shift away from China” as companies and governments reevaluate their business ties with the regime in the aftermath of the Russia–Ukraine war, according to economic analyst Christopher Balding.
Balding, who specializes in Chinese economy and technology as a senior fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, a UK trans-Atlantic foreign policy think tank, made the suggestion after the head of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, said the Russian invasion has marked the end of globalization, with nations and businesses opening an economic war against Russia, and more generally, reconsidering their dependency on other nations.
And if they do, one obvious nation would be China, Balding told NTD, sister media outlet of The Epoch Times.
“Now, people are absolutely in the back of their mind thinking of what happens if China starts killing people in Xinjiang, what happens if they impose a naval blockade around Taiwan? And there’s all kinds of scenarios at play there,” he said.
“All of a sudden, people are going: ‘Wait a minute, this would mean my supply chain in China, my business dealings with a university in China’ ... And people are already looking at the degree of support that Russia is receiving from China and asking a lot of uncomfortable questions about China. And I think if you take China out of that question, that’s basically going to be a monumental shift in global politics and economics.”
The COVID-19 pandemic that first erupted from China two years ago has created a focus on the world’s dependence on China to manufacture much-needed supplies, from pharmaceuticals to critical minerals and medical equipment.
A worker transports and handles boxes with masks for export at Yangluo container port on the Yangtze River in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, on April 12, 2020. (Getty Images)
Outrage over China’s repressive campaigns in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, and elsewhere has also spurred calls—from both activists and Western officials—for international businesses to unplug from China.
On March 17, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) sent an open letter to business leaders commending them for ceasing operations in Russia and urging them to replicate their approach with respect to China, highlighting the risk of Beijing following Russia’s suit and invading self-ruled Taiwan, as well as the regime’s human rights abuses.
“No respectable organization in the United States should be doing business with a murderous regime. Every dollar spent in communist China supports its economy and Xi’s genocidal government,” Scott said, referring to Chinese leader Xi Jinping. “It is time to place human rights and democracy above profits.”
Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.) sees ending manufacturing reliance on China as a national security issue.
“China is an adversarial nation, and we’re relying on them for 90 percent of our medications or active pharmaceutical ingredients and our finished products,” she recently told NTD. “We need to make those things in America or use our allies.”
China’s recent mass lockdowns over a spike in COVID-19 cases have again renewed worldwide concerns of supply chain disruptions.
Global crises such as the pandemic have made reshoring the supply chain back home all the more urgent, Harshbarger said.
“If the pandemic rises, or another one [comes along], are we going to be self-sufficient?”
Eva Fu is a New York-based writer for The Epoch Times focusing on U.S. politics, U.S.-China relations, religious freedom, and human rights. Contact Eva at [email protected]
