Why It’s Dangerous To Rely Economically On Communist China

The first job I had after graduating high school was in a cafeteria at an Intel factory in Malaysia. There I often mingled and made small talk with the workers as they ate lunch. Among the few conversations I recall having was with some of the upper management at Intel’s corporate offices.

I asked about their work and the future prospects of the company because I was interested in getting a job with Intel myself after I graduated from college in five years. They mentioned it was a great idea because Intel would still keep producing microprocessors in Malaysia. Unlike many other American factories in Malaysia that had shut down production and moved to China to cut labor costs, it was very unlikely that Intel would do the same.

The Wisdom To See Ahead

“We will never lose our jobs here in Malaysia. Intel does not trust China since China will steal their product” was what they told me. Back then I didn’t understand the concept of intellectual property, so I just assumed that China would steal the actual microprocessors produced in the factory. Today, I understand what they meant was they didn’t trust the Chinese Communist regime when it came to doing business in China.

The Intel upper management disliked China too because they were aware of the egregious reality of life under the Chinese Communist regime.

Oh, in case you’re wondering (which you really shouldn’t because you shouldn’t judge people based on their race), these upper management at Intel who were making these high-level business decisions happened to be predominantly of Chinese descent, like me. They disliked China too because they were aware of the egregious reality of life under the Chinese Communist regime.  

China Doesn’t Respect Property Rights

This was back in the mid-2000s, even before the 2008 financial crisis happened. During that time, China was still an emerging market. Japan was still the second-largest economy in the world, and China was far behind Germany and the UK. Almost everyone back then wouldn’t even imagine that China would one day become the economic behemoth that it is today.

Relying on China for business is a bad idea for the simple reason that it’s a bad idea to trade with a Communist country that doesn’t respect private property rights. It’s really not that complicated. It should even be instinctive enough to know what a terrible idea it is to do business with a party that thinks it's okay to steal from you and hurt your wellbeing. This is true on a personal level, just as it is true on a global level.

What Makes China a Bad Business Partner?

Ideologically, Communism’s main enemy is capitalism. A good Communist will do everything in their power to destroy capitalism. And the Communist crusade to destroy capitalism will be waged both internally (subverting a capitalist society from within) and externally (actively working to obliterate the society’s strength from the outside). 

Ideologically, Communism’s main enemy is capitalism. 

Former U.N. Ambassador Nikky Haley understood this clearly, which is why she proudly declared herself a champion of capitalism. “Mark me down as a capitalist” she wrote unabashedly in the Wall Street Journal, while cautioning us against the growing popularity of Socialism. If you're unaware, Socialism (i.e. Communism) is a social system where the right to property is vested in society as a whole, with economic production and distribution controlled by the government. 

China’s economy is largely state-controlled, including its largest companies, such as Huawei, the telecom giant currently developing 5G networks, a super-fast cellular technology that is said to be the next generation in technology. Analysts are speculating on how the Chinese regime could potentially spell disaster for the U.S. economy and security.

Thieves Steal from You Because They Don’t Respect Your Private Property Rights 

It should be obvious why going into business with a nation that sees us as their ideological enemy is a clear and present economic risk to us. But if the concept of a potential technological warfare aimed at dismantling our national security is hard to understand, consider this feature about a government that doesn't respect private property rights. 

Chinese officials are using their authority to seize masks donated by the public through China’s Red Cross for the use of medical workers. The Chinese regime then redistributed the masks to those they deem require it more, like their government officials. The thing you should remember is that in a Socialistic/Communistic society, the government has every right to do so because these masks are not an individual’s private property, but rather, everything belongs to the government.    

China Doesn’t Share Our Moral and Ethical Beliefs

To help you think about why working with the Chinese regime is so dangerous, recall any of your favorite shows featuring villainous drug kingpins or brutal cartel bosses who would not blink an eye when slaughtering their enemies. 

These butchers of humans, like Gus Fring (from Breaking Bad) or Pablo Escobar (from Narco), have a reputation of being evil senseless killers. Now, why would a rational person willingly conduct business with someone like that? Washington Post reports Chinese state news agency Xinhua warned that if the Trump administration is not careful, China could ban pharmaceutical exports and plunge the United States “into the hell of a new coronavirus pneumonia epidemic.” 

Chinese state news agency Xinhua warned that if the Trump administration is not careful, China could ban pharmaceutical exports.

Ask yourself this, if Gus Fring or Pablo Escobar threatens your household with death and suffering, what would you do? Would you capitulate and kowtow to their orders, or would you deploy everything you had in your arsenal to eliminate the threat? Keep in mind too that in this thought experiment, your household’s arsenal is superior in every aspect to the menace that’s threatening you.

Enablers of Evil Like To Claim That “America Is Worse” 

One of the curious phenomena I’ve noticed in America is how whenever you point out the blatantly unforgivable human rights abuses of a despotic government (like China, Iran, North Korea, etc.) you’re met with critics from within America who remind you that America is just as bad, if not worse, than these tyrannical regimes. 

What these detractors are doing is basically evading the reality of human life under these evil regimes. Instead of focusing on the essentials whereby they call out the parties who are responsible for their crimes against humanity, they’re actively turning away from problems they should be paying attention to. 

It’s the reason why instead of condemning the Chinese Communist regime for the utter failure in dealing with the Wuhan coronavirus by covering up the outbreak and silencing whistleblowers, they’re focusing their attention on the accusation of supposed racism. Those unjustified accusations of racism are chock full of lies at best and immoral at worst because it enables oppressive regimes to get away with evil. 

Closing Thoughts

Fortunately for us, when it comes to dealing with China, morality and practicality align. It's simply impractical to depend economically on China because the Communist regime has proven time and time again to be an unreliable business partner to America. Just like how it’s impractical to do business with a thief, the same can be applied to doing business with China. The fundamental truth is universal: it’s absolutely a bad idea to do business with those who don’t respect your private property rights.