Boycotts of Chinese products
A full boycott of products made in China is considered to be difficult to achieve, as the country manufactures a large number of goods that are widely sold and used across the world, and also holds stakes in various non-Chinese companies.
[14] Technology produced by Chinese companies has also been a subject of scrutiny, especially by the United States; for example, in 2018, Donald Trump, the President of the United States, signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019 into law, containing a provision that banned Huawei and ZTE equipment from being used by the U.S. federal government, citing security concerns.
[18] Amid escalating trade tensions between Australia and China during the COVID-19 pandemic, a survey conducted by YouGov reported that 88% of Australians support relying less on Chinese imports and produce more essential products locally.
[19] In December 2020, politician Pauline Hanson called for a boycott of Chinese products and stated that China was putting its "tentacles around the world".
[25] India and the Parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration have called for a joint campaign to boycott Chinese goods in response to border intrusion incidents perpetrated by China.
[34][35] Soon after, the Indian government banned 59 apps that were linked to China "to counter the threat posed by these applications to the country's sovereignty and security", including TikTok, WeChat, Helo and UC Browser.
[36] Less than a month later, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of the Government of India banned 47 more Chinese-origin apps and started investigating 250 more for user privacy violations.
[38][39] In spite of various campaigns by notable individuals and organisations, many Chinese companies still have influence over various markets, especially relating to consumer technology and software.
[41] In spite of the campaigns, retailers have stated that the growing rhetoric is unlikely to sway consumer behaviour, especially due to alleged "value for money" in Chinese products, especially smartphones.
Major Chinese investment firms like Alibaba Group and Tencent hold minority stakes in Indian startup companies like Byju's, Zomato, Ola Cabs and Flipkart.
Joey Salceda supported Filipinos to boycott Chinese products over the Spratly Islands dispute which was the Scarborough Shoal standoff in 2012.
"[49] A group of lawyers and activists submitted a 60-page document urging the UK government to ban the import of all cotton from Xinjiang over concerns of "forced labour regime" in the province.
In the United States, charges related to human rights violations (including forced labor camps), unequal treatment of women, conflicts with Hong Kong and Taiwan, and persecution of the religious in China have sparked calls for economic boycotts of the country over the years.
[53][54] In 2019, the Federal Communications Commission placed China-based telecommunication equipment companies Huawei and ZTE on blacklist citing national security risks.
[60] In 2014, Professor Thubten Jigme Norbu, brother of the 14th Dalai Lama, had called for a campaign to boycott Chinese products for seeking Tibet independence.
"[66] In 2020, exiled members of the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) organized a movement to boycott Chinese products in McLeodganj, Dharamsala to promote awareness about the expansionist policies of China.
