For the sake of commercial interests, one should not close one’s eyes to China’s crimes for a moment.
West has made two decisive mistakes in trade relations with China in this millennium. The first mistake was a bare optimism that free trade would automatically lead to a favorable development of democracy. Another mistake has been to focus trade negotiations on combating classical protectionism.
China’s membership of the World Trade Organization gave China a significant boost. China’s economic power has grown amazingly in twenty years – twelvefold.
China has benefited from trade relations, and certainly some of us. Still, it is embarrassing to recall the relations of Finnish politicians with China and related speeches. During my time in Parliament, I felt that I was talking quite alone about the human rights of the Uighurs. Both my hometown of Tampere and the whole of official Finland treated China as a country of great potential. China’s WTO membership only boosted enthusiasm. Since then, the status of the Uighurs has deteriorated dramatically.
Uncovered the grand prize for optimism goes to former U.S. President Bill Clinton. He promised that with one of the most cherished values of democracy, economic freedom, China would also move to the path of political freedom. When individuals are empowered to “not only dream, but also make their dreams come true,” they will also demand greater say, Clinton dreamed. This has not happened, even though the number of Chinese living in extreme poverty in this millennium has fallen from 500 million to close to zero.
Solutions are always found in the unexplored future, not by remembering the past, let alone looking for the culprits. You can no longer afford blue eyes. China did not support its humanity in Putin’s abstention from voting in the UN Security Council. It has had its own state interest in mind.
China oppresses its citizens and is a foreign and security policy threat worldwide. For the sake of commercial interests, one should not close one’s eyes to China’s crimes for a moment. Let even this outrageous war of Putin’s Russia’s attack on Europe teach us a new grave doctrine: if you give a damn a little finger, it will take your whole hand. China’s stalking must now be stopped, just like Putin’s stuttering in Russia.
China is the world’s second largest economy, possibly the largest in the future. It buys the world plot and soul at a time. We must not be for sale.
China’s own communist system gives Chinese state-owned enterprises an unfair competitive advantage. This is an injustice that free trade should correct. The promotion of free trade has sought to attack traditional protectionism.
China’s however, the biggest advantage is based on the issues of a just society. These include environmental standards and the mocking view put forward by the Chinese that Western workers now just have too big bellies.
Free trade, which does not emphasize human rights and environmental protection, will therefore not promote freedom or democracy. Democracy, human rights and environmental protection must be promoted separately and as a matter of priority. We cannot trust that, with prosperity and free trade, these ladies will somehow move forward on their own and automatically.
This is also our financial advantage. When the new emerging economies were able to reach us in excellence, they managed to keep their competitive advantage on the side by trampling on workers’ rights and polluting nature – of course, we can deliver those things ourselves. In the new world order, human rights and the environment are not a side note for hippies, but the hard core of foreign and trade policy on which other developments can take place.
The author is the author.
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