I suspect China doesn't really need western markets in the long term so denying access isn't all that powerful. Their population is the same as the entire OECD combined. They could become an entire "western developed economy" isolated within themselves plus a bunch of 3rd world allies.
I suspect China doesn't really need western markets in the long term
Being from the West, we see things with West-Centric eyes. When, if we look more closely, we see that China alone has more customers than the whole of the West (Five-Eyes, Europe, Japan) combined.
The West is pretty much unimportant, relatively speaking, in the over-all scheme of things. A mere 20% of the world's customers.
As a whole, the world is reverting to the status-quo that existed prior to the 1400s: The world's big economies being in India and China, with Europe/Europeans being a quiet backwater.
Yeahh except for the fact historically the west have been developing technologies and social ideologies which are ultimately adopted by other 'civilizations' for millenia. For what counts, they have always been on top, and will be for the forseeable future. other civilizations are still playing catch-up and have social structures which inhibit development, as for china, its delusion of being the centre of the world is what is making them set such arrogant, unreasonable trade terms.
The West + Japan + S. Korea, is where almost all the money, power and GDP is. China has roughly the same as the US, but with many more people. The 'Rest of Asia Minus Japan+Korea' is big, but still poor.
Sorry to say, but this is typical Western 'markets above all' blinders. Very true, long term China doesn't need Western markets. But China needs World's resources, and Western markets will crash when starved for resources. The future is one Eastern developed economy, and various backwater client states in constant state of quarrel with each other while being striped bare for resources. There is a lot of corn grown in Iowa, I hear there is a big market for it overseas.
