Is it time for western investors to abandon China?
Alan Mendoza, executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, says YES.
The phrase “caveat emptor” should be ringing in the ears of China investors.
When it comes to business, western countries are waking up to Chinese policies that undermine free trade and distort the global market. Western nations, aware of Chinese dominance of many critical industries, will also move to find safer sources of supply. The trend will be for a US-led increase in tariffs and possible trade wars, which will damage returns.
On human rights, given the surge in interest in re-examining domestic relations with racial minorities, it is unlikely that our populations will tolerate large-scale trade with a regime which crushes dissent and liberty at home and in Hong Kong, and persecutes its minorities like the Uighur Muslims.
Environmental concerns over the sustainability of long supply lines will also increasingly move production closer to home.
With trade and consumer attitudes towards China turning rapidly, investors will soon face the threat of ending up on the wrong side of history. They should jump before they are pushed.
Main image credit: Getty
City A.M.'s opinion pages are a place for thought-provoking views and debate. These views are not necessarily shared by City A.M.
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