China is calling on U.S. businesses to speak out on U.S. government policies that it perceives as opposed to its interests.
In December, China Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng urged U.S. businesses that have interests in China, to "speak up and out" to defend them against U.S. government policies that are perceived to be harmful, according to The Guardian.
During a video forum with representatives from the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and the US-China Business Council, Xie said that businesses need to “speak up and speak out, and push the U.S. government to pursue a rational and pragmatic policy towards China, stop conducting wars in trade, industry and technology, and stop creating … ideological and geopolitical confrontations and conflicts.
"We hope that our friends in the business community will clearly oppose the politicization of economic and trade issues and the abuse of the concept of national security, push the Biden Administration to lift the tariffs imposed on China, stop the suppression and sanctions against Chinese enterprises and provide a level playing field for enterprises of both countries,” Xie said in The Guardian.
The meeting came as the Biden Administration was calling for boycotts of the February Winter Olympics hosted in Beijing in response to China’s human rights abuses.
“Boycotting the Olympics for political reasons harms the interests of athletes, violates the common ideals and pursuits of the international community and is unpopular,” Xie said.
Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian writes for Axios that China often puts pressure on international firms to capitulate to their demands, especially if it relates to actions or policies that are contrary to the Chinese Communist Party's stances. Pressure is exerted through state-encouraged boycotts, censorship and even changing laws, or forcing companies to relinquish technology and data.
At this time, the U.S. government has not come up with solutions to support U.S. businesses facing coercion from Beijing.
U.S. companies, with interests in China, are caught between U.S. and China's political tensions. Globe Banner previously said that in a 2021 survey by the US-China Business Council, the Council's company members have felt increasing pressure to make a statement about sensitive political issues between the two countries.
According to the survey, 45% of respondents have felt pressure to declare a statement about political issues. Interestingly, respondents report that pressure is coming from both countries' governments.