It has been a rough summer for Chinese industry, and the United States has taken notice and felt the effects.
First, there was the startling discovery of slave labor-dependent brickyards in Shanxi and Henan provinces. Tipped off by a letter posted on the Internet — a powerful democratic tool, even under dictatorial rule — Chinese authorities rescued 500 kidnapped individuals, including children, who were forced to work 18 hours a day and were beaten if they attempted to escape their plight. Subsequently, the rubber stamp People's Congress enacted a new, sweeping labor law designed to protect the rights of rural workers. But this, like other such measures in China, will likely fall victim to a weak judiciary and the difficulties of enforcement in such a populous and corrupt land.
Soon after, serious quality issues concerning Chinese imports to the United States surfaced. Tires manufactured in China's Hangzhou factory were blamed for the deaths of two Pennsylvanian men, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration subsequently ordered a recall of a quarter-million units of a similar make.
Shortly thereafter, toy production giant Mattel, maker of the iconic Barbie, discovered that several of its Chinese products were tainted with dangerous lead-based paint and issued a series of multi-million unit recalls that brought the issue to the consciousness of American citizens.
Additionally, the steady drumbeat of environmental catastrophe via unsustainable economic practice has reached a crescendo. With just a fraction of its gross domestic product, China has eclipsed the United States in carbon dioxide emissions, according to the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency, although the International Atomic Energy Association contends this dubious takeover won't occur for at least another year. One expert estimates 190 million Chinese suffer annually from sicknesses caused by polluted water. China's State Environmental Protection Administration has estimated the yearly effect of environmental devastation to be equal to nearly ten percent of the country's GDP, further underscoring the threat China's industrial practices poses to the nation and world.
Based on these mounting problems, as well as issues of currency manipulation and intellectual property rights, it is not difficult to understand why Congressional Democrats are pushing for checks on trade with China. However, protectionist measures could lead to a tariff-raising trade war and, in turn, provoke a toppling of the multilateral free trade system, which has brought unprecedented economic gains to every corner of the world. Perhaps trade penalties are the only retaliatory measures of sufficient import available, but with any such procession, caution and foresight are needed.
It would be nice if the People's Republic of China could take care of its own business, but that may be impossible. The regime's long, strange trip from Maoist Marxism-Leninism to technocratic, soulless hyper-capitalism means its legitimacy is dependent on its performance. Some speculate that an economic downturn of even moderate duration and/or intensity could severely destabilize the regime. It's possible the PRC leadership desperately wants to institute drastic, systemic changes geared toward building a sustainable and just industrial sector, but lacks the time and political capital to do so.
The malady endemic in authoritarian states is lack of representation. Environmental devastation persists because those drinking dirty water and inhaling toxins are nominally represented by a People's Congress that almost never votes against measures put before it.
Workers are continually subject to brutal treatment because their only sanctioned union is an arm of the state bureaucracy. Theoretically, the Chinese government could rule in ideal utilitarianism, but to do so would be an historical anomaly.
Change is obviously needed, but U.S. politicians must be sensitive to the fragility of the world trade system in deciding a course of action. It may be that active diplomacy, coupled with extensive technical assistance, could lead to improvements in the quality and safety of exports. Such measures may also do nothing.
In fact, it may be that there is only one option for righting the Chinese ships of state and industry democratization. If China's people had a voice, the excesses of its egregious standards and enforcement of said standards would not be accepted. Politicians would act boldly without fear of governmental collapse. The litany of catalysts above already exist. They simply need to be set off.
John Sprangers ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in political science and international studies.
