Speaking at the recent G7 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called for coordinated action to oppose China's so-called "economic coercion."
The concept of "coercion" in international relations was invented by the USA and is always applied by the USA. Professor at Stanford University in 1971. Dr. Alexander George first coined the concept of "coercive diplomacy" to summarize US policies towards Laos, Cuba and Vietnam. The essence of this concept is that the USA forces other countries to make changes according to the demands of the USA, by means of force of arms, political isolation, economic sanctions and technological blockade in order to protect its hegemony as much as possible.
From this, it is understood that “economic coercion” as a part of the compelling diplomacy of the USA is also an important tool of the USA.
However, China has always been accelerating the establishment of an open world economy and always opposes economic coercion.
The USA's accusation of making economic coercion on China aims to force China to make concessions by creating a "trump card" out of nothing in the cooperation and negotiations in the fields of economy, trade and finance with China.
In fact, the technological blockade was the most widely used method in the US's practice of economic coercion. In August 2022, the “Chip and Science Act” came into effect in the USA. Some articles in the law prohibit American businesses from operating and investing in normal economic and commercial activities in China.
John Neuffer, President and CEO of the US Semiconductor Industry Association, said that it is not possible for American semiconductor companies not to have economic and commercial relations with China, the world's largest semiconductor sales market. This is the true voice of the industry, and the Washington administration cannot ignore it.
Apart from this, unilateral sanctions also draw attention as one of the "economic coercion" methods of the USA. In an effort to put pressure on China's high-tech companies with international competitiveness, the US has added more than a thousand Chinese businesses to its sanctions list.
Globally, the United States has unilaterally imposed economic sanctions on approximately 40 countries, affecting nearly half of the world's population. By fiscal year 2021, more than 9 US sanctions have triggered serious humanitarian crises around the world.
According to data released by the US Brookings Institute, during the most serious period of the COVID-19 outbreak in Iran, US sanctions caused 13 thousand deaths in this country.
On the other hand, the USA does not even pass by its allies on the issue of “economic coercion”. In the past, companies belonging to allied countries such as Japan's Toshiba, Germany's Siemens and France's Alstom have, without exception, been the target of US sanctions.
Recently, the US introduced the Inflation Reduction Act to force European businesses to transfer their production lines to the US. If this isn't "economic coercion," what is?
The G7 Summit will be held shortly. Most of the G7 countries are victims of US "economic coercion". If the US puts content such as "response to economic coercion" on the summit agenda, these countries should consider their own experiences before becoming complicit with the US.