The real reasons for the West’s protectionism
The US and EU believe that it is not just their economies, but also their social and political stability that are at stake.
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The US and EU believe that it is not just their economies, but also their social and political stability that are at stake.
PHOTO: AFP
Gideon Rachman
“Trade freely with China, and time is on our side.” That was the confident view of Mr George W. Bush, the former US president, in the run-up to China joining the World Trade Organisation in 2001. A generation later, many in the West have come to the conclusion that time was, in fact, on China’s side.
Mr Bush was making a political judgment. He believed that a China that integrated deeply with the global economy would become more open and more democratic. But, under Chinese President Xi Jinping, China has become more closed and authoritarian. It is also more overtly hostile to the United States. Meanwhile, China’s rapid economic growth has funded a massive military build-up.