Ban Chinese Goods? Sonam Wangchuk's Videos and Indo-China Trade

To ban foreign products and to promote Svadeshi or indigenous products is not a new idea. This concept originated in the late 19^th century with the Drain of Wealth theory of Dadabhai Naoroji, Mahatma Gandhi adopted it and India’s freedom struggle was fought on its foundations. Recently, Sonam Wangchuk released two video messages urging the people to boycott Chinese products and to adopt Make in India campaign of this government. His videos have taken the country by storm and there’s a surge among the people to avoid using Chinese products. Here we discuss not only its economic and ideological aspects, but also its ramifications on the global policy.

Although the concept of Svadeshi is more than a century old, post-Independent Indians had moved away from it and promoting foreign goods had become a symbol of prestige. Especially almost the entire IT sector was completely dependent upon imported products and technology, first coming from the West and later, coming from China, as most Western countries shifted their outfits to China for cheap labour. But recently, with the outbreak of Corona virus as the Chinese factories and exports from China shut down, the IT industry and the channel community suffered greatly. This was complicated by a strict lockdown in India. It was then that DQ Channels began to discuss about the possibility of promoting IT products made in India.

The fuel to the fire was added when tensions rose between India and China on the frontier and the prospects of a military conflict loomed large. At this moment, engineer and educator Sonam Wangchuk released a video urging people to ban Chinese goods. This message was lapped up by the people. On the other hand, certain sections in the society asked whether this was a viable option. Wangchuk was called for an interview by none other than Rajdeep Sardesai where he dispelled all the doubts. After this, he released a second video in which he responded to the objections made by some people.

So, what is there in Sonam Wangchuk’s videos?

What does Sonam Wangchuk Say?

In his video message, Wangchuk made some straightforward points. First, he said this was a strategy of China to divert its own people away from major problems, such as famine in 1962 and economic downslide because of Corona virus in 2020. Second, he said that the way to counter Chinese aggression was to use wallet power in addition to bullet power. If people of other countries stopped buying Chinese products, it would hurt Chinese economy and China would be contained. He said that China exported goods worth Rs 5.2 Lakh Crores to India, while India exported goods worth only Rs 1.2 Lakh Crores to China. Thus, India incurred a trade deficit of Rs 4 Lakh Crores. He argued that China used this money got from India to wage military conflict against India itself. Hence, he called for the people of the world to boycott Chinese goods so that China could be contained. He argued that this should be done not only for hardware, but also for the Chinese software which Indians are using. He gave a data that Chinese platform TikTok was downloaded in India 466.8 million times, while in China it was downloaded only 173.2 million times. Indian downloads of TikTok amounted to one-third of its total downloads across the world. He said that it was time to become self-reliant and begin to produce our own goods. It would be good for Indian economy in the long run. He said that this was the only way to bring China on the peaceful negotiation table.

Sonam Wangchuk said that this boycott of Chinese products should be done in a phased manner. Some things can be removed in one week. Others may take a year or two to remove. In the process of meeting these timelines, we can begin producing our products. He promised that he’d remove his Chinese-made phone in one week and all other Chinese-made products in one year. He said in 21^st century there was no need to give away one’s life, but there was a need to give life to others.

“Economic boycott is a good way to protest against a country. We are using more Chinese products than Indian. It’s difficult to do away the Chinese products but it’s not impossible.”

Saket Kapur, MD, Green Vision & General Secretary, PCAIT

“In line of US and China, India must also have a think tank that is kept out of political clutches, this think thank must be responsible for reviewing policies suggested by the Govt and if they don't find it in line with India's long term growth commitment, think tank must have full power to raise objections, suggest amendments or even reject, apart from just reviewing they must also suggest policies that is in line with country’s long term growth.”

--Pinaki Chatterjee, CEO & Founder, Aadona Communications

“Import is an organised business and can be controlled by the government, while controlling every consumer is impossible. We have to be clear that we are boycotting Chinese brands or China made goods. We should stop importing Chinese products. We have to bring back innovation in India.”

--Gurpreet Singh, MD, Arrow PC Network

“The Corona-related products coming from China are of poor quality and lack standard certification.”

--Vikas Oberoi, Proprietor, Roshni Enterprises

Questions and Sonam’s Response

The larger population welcomed these ideas of Wangchuk and many people began to remove Chinese apps from their phones. An app to delete Chinese apps was also created, which acted to delete all Chinese apps installed by the user from the phone. But, Google deleted this app from its PlayStore. Google said that it was against its policy to allow an app which deleted other apps.

On the other hand, some prominent people began to argue that it was not possible to do away with Chinese goods in today’s globalised world. This idea appeared very romantic, but it was not practical. Rajdeep Sardesai even called Wangchuk in his show and asked him if this was possible at all in today’s world.

Then, Sonam Wangchuk released another video, in which he responded to all questions raised by various quarters. He clarified that he was not against Chinese people, who were very likeable people. He was against the exploitative policies of Chinese government. He said that the world turned a blind eye to the exploitations and the expansionist policies of China. This could change only if we stopped buying Made in China products. He said that it would be difficult for the government to boycott Chinese products because of many global policy protocols. But the people were free to decide not to use Chinese goods. He said it was definitely possible if the people decided to go against the exploitations of China with a firm determination. He gave the instances of Indian freedom movement and Arab Spring. He said we can make a stage-wise plan about in how much time we can do away what kind of Chinese products. Within this timeline, we can make our own products. He also said that in lockdown we have learnt to live with very few materialistic goods and be happy. We don’t need everything that is coming from China and we don’t have to make a substitute for everything. We can sacrifice the usage of some things.

Can We Do It?

Yes we can. In fact, this is the only way any country becomes the economic power house, by producing its own goods and by exporting them. If Indians want to build a powerful India, they have to follow this path shown by Wangchuk. Yes, this will involve sacrifices and struggles. But without struggle there can be no gain. We have to begin and we have to be prepared to struggle. If our forefathers had not thought of sacrificing their lives, India wouldn’t have been independent. Hence, we can’t keep on living in a comfort zone and keep on talking about how much struggle it will entail. This is not about making ourselves wealthy for a short while. This is a long-term vision to make India strong.