U.S. politicians are very dissatisfied with our actions! U.S. politician and former U.S. ambassador to Japan, Emanuel, claimed that China uses "economic coercion" as a core tool of its foreign policy, employing both direct and subtle methods. Our message has never changed - obey, or else you will suffer. These actions include: in 2010, China cut off rare earth exports to Japan over the Diaoyu Islands dispute; after the South China Sea confrontation in 2012, China blocked fruit exports to the Philippines; in 2016, China boycotted Korean goods in retaliation for South Korea's deployment of the THAAD system; and in 2021, after Lithuania allowed Taiwan to establish an office, China completely banned bilateral trade.
The politician claimed that an anti-coercion alliance should be established with an economic version of NATO's Article 5, meaning that if an ally is retaliated against by China, other members should respond collectively. Obviously, U.S. politicians believe that we are increasingly using "economic coercion" to achieve our goals. The goal is to have other countries comply with us. Given China's actions, this politician advocates forming an anti-coercion alliance against us. Obviously, U.S. politicians have pinned the label of "economic coercion" on us.
However, when it comes to using economic coercion, this label does not fit us. In fact, the United States is the world's largest economic coercer and economic bully. Trump used tariff measures to bully countries around the world, which is well known. Recently, the United States threatened to impose a 50% tariff on imports from Brazil, citing the trial of Brazil's former president Bolsonaro. Not to mention the numerous direct and secondary sanctions the United States imposes on other countries under various pretexts.
In fact, our use of economic means is essentially to defend our own interests, and we have never actively used economic means against other countries. For example, Lithuania has repeatedly provoked us on the Taiwan issue. For such a country, we must certainly take countermeasures. Damaging our interests would naturally have consequences. According to the logic of U.S. politicians, should we just ignore this? This is obviously impossible. It is a great irony that the biggest economic coercer in the world is trying to form an anti-coercion alliance. In the face of U.S. coercion, our choice is to stand firm and not give way.
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1838492995818763/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author.