Helga Zepp-LaRouche: “De-Risking” Is a Trap

On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Times daily is conducting interviews with “renowned scholars, think tanks and financial institutions, sharing their insights and understanding of how this initiative has earned global recognition and growing esteem”. The eighth interview was conducted by Li Xuanmin with Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche.

Mrs. LaRouche was first asked why the strategy of “de-risking” with China has all of a sudden become so popular, to which she replied:

“The word is just a semantic gobbledygook. Somebody obviously realized that the idea of ‘decoupling’ from China sounds very negative, and upsets the industrialists in various countries, who have investments in China or have major trade relations with China, and who know perfectly well that a ‘decoupling’ from China would, in many cases, mean their ruin.

“The word ‘de-risking’ on the other hand sounds more confidence inspiring along the lines. But in fact, the word is completely manipulative, and the fallacy of composition is the fact that there was and is no risk coming from China, which has proven to be a very reliable business partner.

“The ‘decoupling’ and the ‘de-risking’ push are just the same. Behind it is the geopolitical intention to contain China’s economic rise by cutting it off from certain advanced technologies. But that train has left the station already, given the fact that China is leading the world in terms of numbers of patents, as well as key areas of science and technology, such as 5G technology.

“Also, the politicians pushing for ‘de-risking’ don’t seem to understand what every competent industrialist knows, that it is not possible to instantly replace China’s trade and investment partnership, since China offers very well-built infrastructure and a qualified labor force, which still has to take years to be built up in other countries.

“So the ‘de-risking’ policy is prone to hurt its originators more than it could hurt China, as we have seen already with the blowback coming from the sanctioning policy.”

Helga Zepp-LaRouche was also asked about the current situation in major European economies, as well as her assessment of the Belt and Road Initiative achievements. She warned that “the attempt to ‘de-risk’ from China will only lead to the self-destruction of the economies of the West, and threatens to lead to the absolute sidelining of the European continent in terms of world history.”