Since China became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) it has refused to adhere to the same rules as the other members, according to U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emmanuel, who has stated this has given China an unfair advantage and hobbled foreign competitors.
It is an opinion that U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) says he agrees with.
"I agree with @USAmbJapan, we can counter the CCP’s tactics of intimidation, coercion, and economic weaponization by strengthening coalitions and supporting our allies and partners when they are targeted," Rep. Krishnamoorthi wrote in March 26 Twitter post.
Emmanuel wrote an opinion piece published March 23 by Nikkei Asia that detailed China's involvement in the WTO,
"When China became a member of the World Trade Organization in 2001, the world believed that bringing it into the system would be a win for Beijing by helping to lift its people out of poverty and a win for global economic integration and unity due to the country's market potential and population," Emmanuel wrote.
"There was only one problem: China did not agree to adhere to the same principles and rules," he stated in the article. "It entered the WTO and then proceeded to ignore the rules that upheld the system. Instead of embracing market reforms, China turned its back on them, following only those WTO provisions that served its own economic interests and ignoring others."
Emmanuel stated in the article that Bejing engages in unfair business practices including granting state subsidies to its own companies while imposing market barriers on foreign competitors, engaging in intellectual property theft and corporate espionage to steal trade secrets and launching cyberattacks on foreign corporate systems.
"Indeed, this has been China's most pernicious and persistent tool of economic subversion," Emmanuel wrote. "Moreover, China uses market leverage and distorts trade rules to coerce other countries to change their political stance. In short, economic coercion has become political warfare by other means."
Emmanuel shares in the article examples of China's behavior, including cutting off exports of critical rare earth minerals to Japan following a dispute involving the Senkaku Islands in 2010; refusing fruit exports from the Philippines, and sending military vessels to block Philippine fishing boats in 2012 following a confrontation between Manila and Beijing in the South China Sea; and organizing boycotts by Chinese consumers and tourists in 2016 after Seoul deployed a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system to defend against North Korean launches.
"Australia and Lithuania have also been victims. China slapped import restrictions on a range of Australian goods -- coal, barley, beef, copper and wheat -- over Canberra's calls for an independent inquiry into the origin of COVID-19. China banned all imports from, and exports to, Lithuania after Vilnius allowed Taiwan to open a representative office in 2021," Emmanuel wrote.
