During a recent official visit to China, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo criticized Beijing for making its market “uninvestable” for US firms and called on the Chinese government to reduce the risks of doing business in the country. However, this statement is ironic considering the actions taken by the US itself.
In fact, it was the Biden administration that recently released restrictions on US inbound foreign investment into China’s high-tech industries, including semiconductors, quantum computing, supercomputing, and artificial intelligence. While these measures are considered narrow, they still create an atmosphere of uncertainty and lack of confidence for potential investors. Republican critics have argued that these restrictions are not enough and have demanded that they be expanded.
This shows that China is not the one making itself “uninvestable”; rather, it is the US deliberately creating a toxic geopolitical environment. The US does not want to see inbound investment into China and is actively increasing the risks through military tensions and uncertainties. This makes Raimondo’s trip to Beijing immensely hypocritical.
The narrative propagated by Washington, through compliant media, is that China is scaring away foreign investors due to its increasing centralization under President Xi Jinping. China is being portrayed as isolationist, rigid, and “in decline,” and accused of unfair economic practices. The US suggests that if China were to open up more, everything would be fine and the economic relationship between the two countries would thrive. However, this narrative fails to acknowledge the actions taken by the US that hinder investment in China.
The US has placed hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs on Chinese exports and refuses to remove them, even in the face of high levels of inflation. It has also blacklisted products from regions such as Xinjiang, citing “human rights abuses.” Furthermore, the US has added Chinese technology companies to its entity list, prohibiting US companies from exporting to them. It has also blacklisted China’s semiconductor industry and pressured third-party countries to do the same.
In addition to these sanctions, the US has been militarizing China’s periphery by establishing military bases and stoking tensions with Taiwan. It has also capitalized on global uncertainty following the Ukraine war. The constant stream of negative news articles and commentary demonizing China further undermines trust and creates an unfavorable environment for investment.
While it is true that Beijing has tightened control and engaged in regulatory crackdowns, it is a direct response to the mounting insecurity driven by tensions created by the US. Therefore, when officials like Raimondo visit China and complain about the unfavorable conditions for US businesses, it is a display of extreme hypocrisy, as it is the US that has undermined trust in Beijing.
The reason behind this hypocrisy is that the US does not want an equal economic relationship with China. Washington’s ideal scenario is one where it has full access to the Chinese market and can sell anything it wants, while Chinese companies are unable to compete on a global scale. The US seeks to economically dominate China, just as it has sought to dominate Europe.
Visits like Raimondo’s ultimately do not make any significant progress because the US has no intention of establishing an equal economic relationship with China. Its primary goal is to maintain economic dominance. Therefore, such visits are ultimately a waste of time.
It is important to note that the views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of RT.
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