If it genuinely had a problem with “bullying behaviour”, not to mention the “economic and trade order”, then China could make a start by taking down the firewalls that prevent American websites and apps from operating in the country.
It could follow that up by making Mastercard and Visa acceptable forms of payment, allowing global banks to open up branches, and letting Western media companies and streaming services operate within the country. That would be a lot more effective than just issuing a few angry denunciations.
Donald Trump’s former Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin is reported to already be putting together an investor group to try and buy TikTok.Credit: AP
The US move to force the restructuring, or indeed the sale, of TikTok may be the start. But surely it doesn’t end there. As China’s giant companies, all emerging from the country’s 30 years of modernisation, move into Western markets, they can expect similar challenges and restrictions.
The fast-fashion retailer Shein is already a huge presence in Western markets, but there is no reason why that should be allowed if European and American rivals are not offered the same access to China’s market. The same applies to the rapidly expanding web retailer Temu, a kind of Chinese Amazon, which is already one of the most ubiquitous advertisers on the web.
The automakers, led by BYD with a slick range of competitively priced electric vehicles, are already starting a big push West, and while the likes of Volkswagen are big players in China, other manufacturers have not been able to secure the same kind of slice of the market.
With the Comac-C919 plane now on sale, China may well start to close down access to the aviation market for Boeing and Airbus in favour of its own national champion, but that is surely unfair and, if it happens, Comac should be shut out of Western markets before the world’s two dominant plane-makers are destroyed.
The list goes on and on. There are lots of industries where China may well have excellent products, but it has also benefited from domestic protectionism.
The TikTok decision is going to force China to make a historic choice, and one that is surely long overdue. Does it believe in free and open markets, based on respecting World Trade Organisation rules, or not? For a long time it has shielded its domestic markets from competition while rapidly building up its own industrial muscle. It could get away with that so long as it was mostly a supplier to Western companies.
As its conglomerates start aggressively expanding into the rest of the word, as they are right now, that is not going to work any more. Either it opens up its own markets to fairer competition, starting with the internet and moving on rapidly to finance, media and pharmaceuticals.
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Or else it will have to accept that its giant conglomerates will be prevented from conquering Western markets, and will have to divest themselves of overseas units when they grow too big, or else face punishing tariffs and quotas.
Either outcome will be far healthier than the one-sided global economy we have right now, and a lot fairer, as well. And the Chinese government will have to make up its mind over the next few months if the TikTok legislation comes into force – because farcical condemnations that it is unfair are not going to work.