With China agreeing to ignore Russia’s aggression, thus giving Putin the green light to attack Ukraine, we need to find and support an alternative to buying from China. China is more than willing to cause turmoil in western countries by pitting one country against another. I guess China assumed no one would notice. Well, there are some in the west who have noticed.
Let’s understand that China still considers Taiwan to be a part of China, with some justification. When the time is “right”, as determined by China, they will make their move. In fact, China has been making their move for some time.
We can do this by encouraging countries in South America to utilize their relatively cheap labor to produce the goods and services we now purchase from China. China takes for granted that Americans will continue to buy Chinese because of price. South America can compete with China by us committing to buy from South American countries instead of China. With that committment we will not only be hurting China but also helping our southern neighbors.
In the short run, China still may be able to undercut prices coming from South America, however in the long run we will be much better off. China assumed us Americans would not figure this out. The best way to slow China down is to help our neighbors to our south rise. LET’s DO IT!
** Footnote: As of now, March 10, 2022, I am wondering if China set Putin up to fail. It is a possibility. As things have gone for Russia in Ukraine so far, this may be the case. This does not change my believe that we should help South America, so we become less dependent on China. The incremental cost should be minimal in the worst-case scenario.
Here is an excellent audio discussion of China’s role in the Ukranian War,
https://player.wbur.org/onpoint/2022/03/18/china-place-in-the-russia-ukraine-war
Thoughts & Wishful Thinking 