China’s Economic Coercion Needs Congressional Response, Ambassador Says, Dow Jones Newswires (Wall Street Journal), Mar. 27, 2023.
By Peter Landers
TOKYO -- U.S. Ambassador Rahm Emanuel called for congressional legislation to protect countries whose economies are targeted by China over political disputes and a global coalition to soften the blow for those countries.
"This is not stopping until it's confronted," said Mr. Emanuel, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, in an interview Monday. "The economic coercion is part of China's overall strategy, and if you don't have a play for that playbook, you're leaving yourself vulnerable."
China has frequently resorted to punitive measures against trading partners in recent years amid disputes over issues such as Taiwan or Covid-19. It effectively blocked most exports from Lithuania to China in December 2021 after Lithuania took moves to support Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing considers to be part of China.
In 2020, China imposed restrictions on imports of barley, beef, coal and other products produced in Australia after the Australian government campaigned for a global investigation into China's early handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington this month found that the moves had a poor record of getting Beijing the outcome it wanted, sometimes driving countries closer to the U.S. Beijing recently lifted its ban on Australian coal.
Mr. Emanuel said he agreed that China's moves were generally backfiring, but he said it would help to have a coordinated game plan for the next time, adding: "You can't get there without the United States in the front."
With a "coalition to confront coercion," he said, "one, you will be able to beat it back, and two, you'll make the country perpetrating it -- which is either China or Russia -- think twice about it." He said the coalition could include the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Australia and other U.S. friends.
For affected countries, the coalition could provide greater access to the U.S., Japanese and European markets as well as support that country's infrastructure, Mr. Emanuel said.
China has rejected U.S. accusations of economic coercion. Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said last year that when China's dignity is violated, it "responds with reasonable and lawful countermeasures to defend its legitimate rights and interests." He said the U.S. itself "invented, patented and owns" the concept of coercion and should "stop forcing countries to pick sides."
Republican and Democratic lawmakers in February introduced bills in the House and Senate that would authorize the president to designate a country as a victim of Chinese coercion. Under the proposed laws, the U.S. could then cut import duties for that country and limit red tape so it could export more.
Mr. Emanuel declined to say whether he favored the legislation but said it "deals directly with confronting China's coercion" and "addresses the issue of America's leadership." In general, he said new congressional legislation could help assure U.S. friends of rapid aid during a dispute.
The European Union is discussing measures that would support any EU member targeted by economic coercion and potentially retaliate against the coercive country.
"In fairly short order, we're going to see a large-economy, free-country alliance that is putting together a toolkit to counter economic coercion, " said Sen. Todd Young (R., Ind.), who is sponsoring the Senate legislation, at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event.
Write to Peter Landers at Peter.Landers@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 27, 2023 09:20 ET (13:20 GMT)
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