China debates cutting US access to drugs as hostilities spike

Some government advisers say China should cut drug exports to the US if Washington increases sanctions

Others contend it could be immoral and speed up relocation of US pharmaceutical firms out of China

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The United States is heavily reliant on imported medicines from China. Illustration: Henry Wong

Published: 12:00pm, 10 Sep 2020Updated: 1:02pm, 13 Sep 2020

In recent weeks, as the United States has ramped up its attacks on Chinese tech firms and the threat of financial decoupling has grown, government advisers in Beijing have begun debating a so-called nuclear option: cutting US access to medicines.

From pills for pain relief to HIV medications, the US is heavily reliant on imported medicines from China thanks to large-scale offshoring in the 1990s.

While weaponising drug exports and precursors does not have official backing, its discussion has provoked concern in both Washington and Beijing.

The idea has been recently floated by the likes of Li Daokui, a prominent Chinese academic and government adviser, who told local media that limiting access to medicines could be legitimate retaliation for US export controls on American technology and software.

It will fail to help China retaliate against the US, it will also ratchet up efforts to further block China’s hi-tech companies,

Shi Yinhong

In a statement to the South China Morning Post, Li said he was making a point that the US and China are mutually dependent and it is impossible for the two countries to decouple. But he also suggested in 2019 that China could curb its exports of antibiotics to the US as a trade war retaliation tool.

Other experts have suggested the idea is not only immoral, but it could also backfire.

“This suggestion doesn’t make much sense. It will fail to help China retaliate against the US, it will also ratchet up efforts to further block China’s hi-tech companies,” said Shi Yinhong, an international relations professor at China’s Renmin University and an adviser to the State Council.

Li Daokui has said China could limit American access to medicines if it was starved further of semiconductorscould cut. Photo: Winson Wong

Medical supply chain security has emerged as a key theme in the upcoming American presidential election, with both US President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden vowing to address the issue after the coronavirus pandemic exposed vulnerabilities in the nation’s pharmaceutical and medical device supply.