By
Colonel Awadhesh Kumar, Special Forces
China thinks that they just not need to worry too much about the call in India to boycott Chinese goods. They think that India’s manufacturing sector is highly uncompetitive against China’s, which is able to offer daily necessities with a high performance-price ratio.
he boycott of Chinese products in India has started in earnest because Indians are quite angry with China’s support to terrorist leader Masood Azhar and his murderous terror outfit the JeM.
Nearly all Indians have chosen to boycott Chinese products. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has refused to intervene in the matter. He said the matter is for the public to decide. “As far as public sentiment toward Chinese goods is concerned, we should leave it to their wisdom. This means Modi has played the Indian card in the Ping Pong manner, exactly like the Chinese.
Modi has thus tacitly given consent to the boycott of Chinese products in India, but without uttering a single word against China, a super diplomatic stroke. Why can Modi trust the public’s wisdom? Because he knows that the boycott is bound to succeed as the Indian people value their country over every thing else. The British had seen the effect of such boycott during freedom struggle and the Americans when they had tried sanctions on India after the Indian Nuclear Blast. Both had to give up in the end.
Once Indians decide to boycott Chinese goods, then families will just switch over to other indigenous substitutes, buy western substitutes at reduced volumes or just stop consumption of such products. Thus Indian nationalism will prompt the Indian people to boycott Chinese products not only for a short term but totally or till China stops supporting terrorism and stop supporting export of terrorism by Pakistan. Chinese products even with a high performance-price ratio will just be ignored.
In spite of this the Government of China and its Policy makers are highly optimistic that most Indians will continue to chose the Chinese “ fancy” stuffs over others. In fact China is caught up in a nationwide discussion over the “996” overtime schedule: working 12 hours a day from 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week. They think that their country has established its competitiveness in the manufacturing sector during previous decades because of the hard-working spirit of Chinese employees in labor-intensive industries, as well as research and development personnel and entrepreneurs.
Many Chinese workers have embraced the “996” culture, while many billionaires in China work even longer hours. The wave of heated discussion on the “996” culture implies how common the schedule has become in China. But in India, foreign investors often complain about the relatively short working hours and high levels of social welfare enjoyed by local workers.
Thus Chinese even have the gumption of advising India to adopt the “996” schedule. They think that it can help India further improve its business environment, attract foreign investment and eventually enhance India’s competitiveness in the manufacturing sector. Chinese wisdom says that without the “996” schedule and the spirit of hard work, India can hardly catch up with China.
It seems the Chinese have failed to fathom the depth and the strength of Indian society and its culture. India is progressing and the progress is gathering speed but it will be governed by the Indian wisdom and not by any imported one.
The effect of Indian boycott is already being felt by the Chinese. The trade deficit has started reducing and soon the Chinese Arrogance balloon is going to burst, with just one pin prick from the Indians.
The Chinese need to demonstrate their sincerity to Indian friendship by declaring Azhar Masood an international terrorist. This step will also help them safeguard the future of Xinjiang Province ….nothing else will.
