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Letters | China trade and Xinjiang: human rights and economic concerns leave partners walking a tightrope
- Governments should not be accomplices in human rights abuses, but good alternatives to Chinese supply chains and investment are tough to find
- It would take great determination and sacrifice for a country to accept lesser profits to enact economic costs on Xinjiang’s sources of income
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I read with great interest the article by Finbarr Bermingham, “Soaring EU-Xinjiang trade in textile machinery, tomatoes piles pressure on Brussels to act on alleged forced labour” (February 17).
Xinjiang’s human rights issues have placed a spotlight on the persecution of minorities in China and China’s overwhelming and sometimes unseen dominance in global supply chains. The clothing we wear and the pizza we eat could well be linked to Xinjiang.
When any party wishes to use economic sanctions to force China to halt human rights violence, they inevitably take a risk. What alternative partners can match the speed and cost of China’s supply chain? No country comes close to matching the global supply chain capabilities of China.
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For business owners who seek to maximise profits, human rights concerns in Xinjiang do not appear to be front and centre. For instance, a survey by the German Chamber of Commerce in China mentioned most enterprises had no plans to lower their presence in the Chinese market.
As the global democratic movement increases, political conflicts over trade and investment will become more common. The situation in which governments depend on China’s supply chain is likely to change because of geopolitics and geoeconomics.
02:25
China bans BBC World News over Xinjiang report and after China state broadcaster loses UK licence
China bans BBC World News over Xinjiang report and after China state broadcaster loses UK licence
In the case of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) and Cosco Tunhe, EU sanctions will reorient the supply chain. At the same time, US sanctions have banned XPCC from trading with US organisations or majority-owned subsidiaries. US power is still determinative when it is wielded.
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