China dares to ask ’Five Eyes’ and Japan four questions on US’s textbook coercion and forced labor

Q: According to reports, on June 9, the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan jointly released a statement, emphasizing their concern that trade-related economic coercion and non-market-oriented policies and practices threaten the multilateral trading system and harm relations between countries. They also expressed concern about pervasive subsidization, anti-competitive practices by state-owned enterprises, forced technology transfer, and government interference with corporate decision-making. The six countries also said that they are seriously concerned about the use of forced labor, including state-sponsored forced labor, in global supply chains. The statement did not single out any country but appeared to be aimed at China. What’s your comment? Wang Wenbin: The statement is made by the US together with its Five Eyes allies and Japan, but every sentence in it reads like a description of the US itself. The US CHIPS and Science Act prohibits companies that receive federal funding from expanding advanced semiconductor production capacity in China for a decade. It also cajoles and coerces US allies into restricting export of semiconductors to China. Isn’t this typical economic coercion? The US has overstretched the concept of national security and abused state power to suppress companies like Huawei and TikTok. Isn’t this clearly a non-market practice? For many years running, the US has been the only one impeding the appointment of new judges to the WTO’s Appellate Body, thus paralyzing the dispute settlement mechanism. The US also refuses to comply with WTO rulings in effect. Isn’t this the biggest threat to the multilateral trade system? The US has adopted the Inflation Reduction Act, resorted to discriminatory subsidies, and triggered a subsidy race. Isn’t this a textbook example of market-distorting illegal subsidies? As to forced labor, it is a persistent problem in the US as old as the country itself. Even today, more than 500,000 people in the US still live under the yoke of modern slavery and forced labor. As the US attempts to project its deplorable image onto others, the world gets a chance to see clearly what the US really is—a country that tramples on market economy principles and international trade rules. We suggest the UK and the other countries use this statement as a checklist and call on the US to correct its economic coercion, unilateral sanctions, long-arm jurisdiction, and other non-market practices. __________________ ShanghaiEye focuses on producing top-quality contents. Nobody knows SHANGHAI better than us. Please subscribe to us ☻☻☻ __________________ For more stories, please click ■ What’s up today in Shanghai, the most updated news of the city ■ Amazing Shanghai, exploring the unknown corners of the city, learning the people, food and stories behind them ■ What Chinese people’s lives are like during the post COVID-19 period ■ Views of foreign scholars on China and its affairs ■ Foreign faces in Shanghai, people living in this city sharing their true feelings ■ Mini-docs showing why China is the country it is today __________________ ☎Leave us messages if you have any suggestions or questions! Thank you!