China rewrites modern economics

#WTO #manufacturing #trade #tariffs

It was 2001, the room was filled with delegates all around the world peeping
into the paper that would change modern economics. The pen would kiss the
paper and roll around. There were cheers. There were hugs. There were
claps. Mr. Shi Guangshen, the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic
Cooperation of China, signed, subject to ratification, China's Protocol on the
Accession to the WTO. A sign that would create an economic upheaval in the
future. The WTO had made a mistake, a mistake that would haunt it after
several years.

Bill Clinton, the then U.S President had backed China to enter the WTO and
start free trade with several countries. Bill Clinton thought that China with
development would grow to be like any other western country; he thought that
it would break China's traditional way of governance, communism(which did
not give freedom to the people to vote and there was only one party ruling the
country). Clinton was wrong. China instead became an economic superpower.
Throughout the years, from free trade, it had grown exponentially- in many
unethical ways.

From 2001, the Chinese economy skyrocketed. It became a hub for investors
as there was a pool of cheap labor; the high population of China served as a
market for the domestic firms. But, the biggest advantage China had was the
protectionism policy. Basically, the Chinese government taxed foreign firms
heavily and provided an enormous amount of subsidies to domestic firms.
This helped the domestic firms to grow without any competition. This enabled
firms such as Huawei to invest a lot in its R and D as it was heavily subsidized
by the government. This lead to massive technological advancement in China
that helped it grow as an economic hub. Places such as Shenzen are now a
major tech hub. This swift change in China's economy raised many eyebrows.
This is because domestic firms enjoy a vast amount of money, they also had
the same technological edge as its competitors. This is because many
Chinese firms are accused of stealing technology from foreign firms and using
it for their own benefits. Unethical practices such as these have made China's
economy prosper and become the manufacturing hub as we know today.

China's ambitions:
As the Chinese government saw an increase in economic growth and China's
dependence on trade, they foresaw the depletion of resources and decrease
in economic growth; as China becomes developed. The Chinese carried out a
masterplan, to give out a ridiculous amount of loans to puny economies.
Kenya now has a faster railway system than the U.S, thanks to China. China
had sanctioned loans to Sri Lanka to build a port but, Sri Lanka couldn't pay it
back. This forced the government to lease the port to China for 99 years.
China has the money and they are hunting for resources, this made them
have a massive influence over under-developed countries.

Looking at this map that helps that highlights the countries that have taken
debt from China, one can definitely point out at the African countries. China is
seeking for cheap labor and a lot of natural resources, which African countries
possess. By, granting loans, China is gaining influence on the countries'
economy and its political issues. This enables China to become a World
Superpower surpassing the U.S and it reminds us of European countries
colonizing under-developed countries in the past.
The Chinese manufacture 1/4 of the world's goods and as it becomes too
dependent on trade, China starts influencing under-developed countries, to
become a world Superpower and ease of sanctions on them for trade. Giving
so much power to a communist party is extremely dangerous and now we can
only regret its dire consequences.