By Christine Wallace
It is difficult to pick up any newspaper today and not read a story on China. Whether it is over China’s encroachment on Hong Kong’s independence, the ever-increasing naval tests around the South China Sea or the Human Rights infringements against Uighur Muslims. Rather than asking why China is in the news so much lately, it seems more appropriate to ask why has it taken this long for the news to catch up with China? China’s global influence is not new by any means, but it appears that China’s more riskier policies are only now coming in to play or at least becoming so visual to the rest of us. One could argue that the lessened secrecy of China’s actions come as they become more settled in their enhanced global positioning and the likeliness that will not face severe consequences.
With the projection of becoming world’s biggest economy by 2024, having the largest navy in the world, and the third largest foreign investment balance sheet of $117.2 billion in 2019, is China now becoming so powerful it cannot be stopped? With so many countries depending on energy, resources, technology, investment and labour from China, are they willing to pay the economic or possibly even confrontational price of standing up to China?
It is only as China begins to slowly increase testing its hard power that the world seems to have become aware of how entrenched and far reaching China’s soft power is. This leaves the question of what can really be done to prevent China from acting without consequences? The Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, stated to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee recently that the UK has not ruled out boycotting the Winter Olympics over the human rights abuses of Uighur Muslims in Tibet and Xinjiang. Yet these sorts of actions seem almost trivial when in relation to the atrocities being committed.
In June this year, 20 Indian soldiers were killed by Chinese forces for supposedly crossing the ‘Line of Actual Control’. The Indian Government’s response however was almost non-existent, especially when comparing it to the air strike India sanctioned after Indian soldiers were killed by a Pakistan based terrorist group. Ironically, territory crossing is a practice China regularly participates in around the South China Sea when holding naval practices in Taiwanese waters. This practice alone has cost the Government of Taiwan almost $900million as they have had to scramble their air forces almost 3,000 times this year alone.
Are the words of Ai Weiwei true, has China’s influence become so great that it cannot now be effectively stopped? The optimist in me would like to say no. In an age of globalism and with multi-nation organisations such as the UN, WTO, NATO and Five Eyes, surely a single nation cannot overpower a joint response. I am not naïve in thinking it will not come at some cost. The U.S. trade war with China is said to have cost U.S. companies $1.7 trillion in stocks, whilst the U.K.’s ban on Huawei 5G kit by 2027 will delay infrastructure and bring about additional expenses. However, should a U.K. provider seize the opportunity and step up and provide 5G infrastructure it would create jobs and add to the economy. With companies such as H&M and Sony moving production out of China, they lessen China’s economic hold and create economic opportunities in competing countries. As awareness spreads and the private and public sectors begin to diversify their dependence on China it creates an opportunity to put pressure on China’s current Human Rights infringements and actions in the South China Sea. As more join the call to hold China to account, the thinner the burden will spread.
Christine Wallace