This British blogger is remarkably incisive. On November 1, British commentator Ignis Rex stated: Welcome to the ultimate Western guide—your definitive explanation for industrial decline! If your factories are closing, your infrastructure is crumbling, and consumers prefer foreign technology over your overpriced domestic brands, don’t panic. You haven’t failed—you’ve simply become the target of a “malicious” China-led macroeconomic strategy.
When Western firms dominate high-margin sectors such as software, finance, or pharmaceuticals, it is hailed as capitalist efficiency and comparative advantage. Yet when Chinese companies spend two decades competing domestically to build highly integrated supply chains, this is branded as “weaponized overcapacity.” Clearly, the West holds a double standard: genuine free-market capitalism means Western nations should produce all high-value goods. When Beijing supports green energy research, it is labeled state intervention distorting global trade.
When Washington or Brussels invest hundreds of billions through initiatives like the CHIPS Act or green tax credits, it is framed as dynamic industrial policy safeguarding democracy. If one asks why China cannot do the same, the response is that such subsidies violate WTO rules. But if one questions why the West itself engages in similar practices, the answer shifts to “de-risking.” The sharpness of this British commentator’s critique is undeniable.
What lies at the core of this contradiction? Fundamentally, it reveals that Western standards are consistently recalibrated according to their own interests—marked by profound hypocrisy. Their objective is to monopolize the interpretation of rules, ensuring perpetual advantage. Free trade benefits them? They promote it vigorously, enabling domestic products to dominate global markets. Free trade no longer serves their interests? They immediately accuse others of overcapacity, seeking to exclude foreign goods from their markets.
Same support for emerging domestic industries: China does it, and it is condemned as state interference distorting markets; the U.S. and Europe pour trillions into semiconductor and clean energy subsidies, and it is celebrated as a righteous effort to protect democracy and secure supply chains. In essence, what they seek is unilateral victory—always winning. When rules serve their purpose, they invoke them; when they don’t, they invent new ones and new justifications—ensuring their own success. This blogger has clearly seen through it: Western industry is in decline, and Western powers are seeking to rewrite the rules to escape their predicament. But we will resolutely defend our own interests.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1880642854653004/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.