Coronavirus: China risks being left out of new global economic order, Beijing’s former trade chief warns
- Long Yongtu, who led China’s negotiations to enter the World Trade Organisation, has warned Beijing to be alert to the risk of geopolitical isolation
- His voice adds to a chorus of warnings from former officials and advisers about China’s position in the post-coronavirus world
China could face isolation from the global economic order post-coronavirus, warned Beijing’s former chief trade negotiator Long Yongtu, who shepherded the country into the World Trade Organisation in 2001.
As more countries follow the United States in criticising China for its handling of the virus, doubts are growing as to whether Washington and its allies will try to exclude Beijing from a new international economic order, a theory being labelled by some Chinese experts as “de-sinicisation”.
Such a process would pose a protracted economic and diplomatic challenge to China in the years ahead, even though it has effectively declared victory over the virus within its borders.
China is also an important participant in globalisation, so when somebody begins to talk about ‘deglobalisation’, there are also voices about ‘de-sinicisation’
“China is also an important participant in globalisation, so when somebody begins to talk about ‘deglobalisation’, there are also voices about ‘de-sinicisation.’ Of course, we need to be highly wary of that,” said Long, the former vice-minister of foreign trade and point man during China’s 15-year talks that ended in accession to the World Trade Organisation in 2001.