April 17, 2020 By Caleb Ashley
Coronavirus is forcing American businesses to reduce or halt their operations in China, but when the crisis passes, business will resume. What CEOs should consider is that Xi Jinping’s authoritarian and secretive response to the outbreak is a microcosm of how his government operates.
James Palmer, senior editor for Foreign Policy, writes, “The hostility to transparency and fear of speaking out baked into the fabric of Xi Jinping’s China can’t be thrown away for one crisis. Transparency is not a window that can be opened and shut at the state’s will when it finds it useful.”
China's mass detention of Muslims and government-backed theft of western technology has led to much talk but little concrete action from the international community. And there is no reason to think Xi Jinping will institute political reforms. Unfortunately, American businesses continue to drink at the poisoned well of Chinese commerce because the economic incentives and potential profits are too large to turn down. Instead of continuing to appease a regime that spreads fake news claiming that America created the coronavirus, American CEOs should decide to value long-term principles over short-term profit.
Last fall, the NBA experienced the competing pulls of Chinese outrage and domestic discontent when the general manager of the Houston Rockets, Daryl Morey, tweeted a message supporting protesters in Hong Kong. China reacted by kicking the NBA out of China and removing NBA games from television. The league tried to appease both sides by defending Morey’s right to free speech in an English press release while simultaneously releasing a statement in Chinese condemning his comments................
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