![]() Indeed, China has responded in kind to Washington’s recent decisions to restrict ties with Beijing, from efforts to ban TikTok to the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston amid allegations of espionage in diplomatic facilities. The question, though, is how Beijing might respond, given that the leadership has hardly shied away from taking swift action against policies that it disagrees with, both within and outside its borders. Certainly, it is a move that Japanese policymakers had been looking to make for the past several years amid growing wariness about becoming too reliant on the Chinese market, which became all too apparent with the outbreak of the coronavirus. Tokyo’s decision in late July to pay 57 companies a total of $535 million to relocate back to Japan from China, and support 30 companies to expand production across Southeast Asia has been broadly welcomed by the Japanese public. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s decision in April to set aside $2.2 billion to help companies deal with disruptions to supply chains based in China was part of the broader stimulus package to deal with the logistical challenges posed by the COVID-19 outbreak. Nevertheless, Tokyo’s latest action to support companies that move out of China and return home or expand into Southeast Asia is a gamble, given the delicate balancing act that Japan must move forward with as China remains its single biggest trading partner, even as political relations between the two countries remain tense. Tokyo’s latest action to support companies that move out of China and return home or expand into Southeast Asia is a gamble For Japan, those global concerns about Chinese influence and military ambitions has actually enhanced its position in the region, as Tokyo is increasingly seen as a much-needed anchor to preserve the international liberal order across the Indo-Pacific. Unease about maintaining economic partnerships with Beijing and worries about Chinese aggressions from its crackdown on Hong Kong and expansion into the South China Sea is particularly strong in Asia. ![]() digital networks, even if the TikTok and WeChat bans are successfully implemented, remains to be seen.ĭespite questions about how Washington is addressing technology challenges posed by China and strategic competition with the world’s second-largest economy more broadly, concerns about Chinese data collection and privacy violation is hardly unique to the United States. How and whether the United States will be able to reduce or eliminate threats to U.S. The crackdown on two of the most popular apps for teens, both of which have been pivotal in keeping them connected during a pandemic, has raised awareness of the escalating distrust between the two countries to a younger generation.
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