Letter to the editor: We need to offset China's control

When Communist China was “opened up” by President Richard Nixon in the 1970s, American businesses salivated at the prospect of a brand-new, billion-person market. Fifty years later it has taken a coronavirus pandemic to make it apparent that we are totally dependent upon China to provide integral components of some of our technological products and systems. And many of these products and systems are vital to our economy and our military.

The authors of the op-ed “China, coronavirus & threat of integration” (March 8, TribLIVE) pointed out that Communist China has a long-term economic and manufacturing policy designed to make America dependent on it in certain areas. This is accomplished by concentrating on certain key areas of business and developing manufacturing and production capabilities of particular critical components in those areas. China then prices these components such that it is far cheaper for the U.S. to buy them from China than to manufacture them here. Typically, the United States eventually abandons the manufacture of those components, leaving us wholly dependent on China for its supply.

This technique of “policy warfare” on the part of China already includes not only vital technological areas but also other key industries including pharmaceuticals, steel and even automobile tires.

While it is not the policy of our government to dictate to industry what it should make or how it can and cannot operate, it is obvious that some sort of plan needs to be put in place to offset Communist China’s ability to selectively control America through its currently successful policy of economic warfare.

Ed Collins

West Newton