Letters | Why China under attack must resist the urge to turn inward

Name: RCEP: 15 Asia-Pacific countries sign world’s largest free-trade deal
Uploaded: 2021-07-30T16:30:14.000Z
Duration: 3 min 29 s
Description: RCEP: 15 Asia-Pacific countries sign world’s largest free-trade deal

China’s current push for technological self-sufficiency is a page taken from its history

But that was then and this is now. In 2021, China is a multilateral player and must think about keeping its promises of global collaboration. Opening up more is the right choice

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Chinese Communist Party leader Mao Zedong smiles and waves in 1969. In the Mao era, the policy of self-reliance or “zili gengsheng” reflected China’s strategy to rely on domestic resources when surrounded by foreign “hostile forces”. In 2021, the situational context has vastly changed. Photo: AP

Letters

Published: 12:30am, 31 Jul 2021Updated: 12:30am, 31 Jul 2021

China has repeatedly positioned itself as a staunch supporter of multilateralism. President Xi Jinping has, on multiple occasions, called for the removal of barriers and sought global integration. During the Apec Informal Economic Leaders’ Retreat on July 16, President Xi proclaimed, “We must remove barriers, not erect walls. We must open up, not close off. We must seek integration, not decoupling.”

Indeed, China has given reassuring signals of its involvement in the global system. Foreign Minister Wang Yi has affirmed China’s commitment to existing multilateral platforms by stressing the central role of the World Trade Organization and the basic norms of international relations based on the UN Charter. On the other hand, China is also actively constructing new multilateral efforts, for instance, by joining Asean in the RCEP free trade agreement.

As the US rallies to present China as a global threat, such positive developments act as important indicators for other countries to lighten up about the China challenge and continue cooperating with this rising giant.

However, it is difficult to ignore China’s efforts to push for self-sufficiency. In the 14th five-year plan, specifically, technological self-sufficiency became a highlight. The actions following that plan reinforced China’s tendency to make inward-facing policies when faced with foreign pressure.

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RCEP: 15 Asia-Pacific countries sign world’s largest free-trade deal

In the semiconductor industry, the US-China tech war led to the Chinese government providing the industry with heavy subsidies. In 2020, China spent a record US$33 billion in industry subsidies, spurring Chinese tech firms on develop their own chip competency. TikTok owner ByteDance, for one, has jumped on the bandwagon and is developing AI chips. The increased investment in domestic semiconductor competence could undoubtedly decouple China’s supply chain from the world’s.

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.css-sioo19{color:#c79a00;}Letters | Why China under attack must resist the urge to turn inward

Letters | Why China under attack must resist the urge to turn inward