The world has started to gang up on China. America’s Defense Department published a report as part of its Annual Report to Congress. In “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2013,” officials wrote:
In 2012, numerous computer systems around the world, including those owned by the US government, continued to be targeted for intrusions, some of which appear to be attributable directly to the Chinese government and military.
Further, the analysts said the Chinese effort was to improve the quality and competitiveness of its own military.
Europe, not to be outdone in banging the People’s Republic, hit China on the anticompetitive front. As The Wall Street Journal reported on tariffs on Chinese solar panels:
The European Union is poised to slap import duties on solar-panel equipment made in China, likely sparking one of the largest trade battles of recent decades.
The duties are intended to protect European solar companies reeling from a flood of imported Chinese solar panels. Dozens of European manufacturers have shut production or gone out of business as solar-panel prices have plummeted; the industry says unfairly priced imports from China are the cause.
Although the two actions are not directly related, they do point to the fact that the West has become frustrated enough about China’s illegal activities to begin a series of harsh countermeasures.
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