West's 'overcapacity' narrative arrogant

The West has been hyping up its ill-advised "overcapacity" narrative again, this time targeting China. Four decades ago, the narrative was aimed at Japan. In fact, "Japan bashing" was all the rage in the 1980s, as the island nation was perceived by many in the US as a threat to the US economy. In 1987, several US Congress members, swinging sledgehammers, demolished a Toshiba radio in the Capitol, acting out their anger at allegations that a subsidiary of the Japanese electronics conglomerate had joined a Norwegian company to sell submarine technology to the Soviet Union.

Typically, no such theatrical protest targeted Norwegian products.

The protest took place at a time when many in the West, politicians in particular, feared that Japan would overtake the United States as the world's biggest economy. Of course, it was nothing but mass delusion, similar to the anti-China hysteria that emerged in the late 19th century in response to Chinese laborers arriving in North America and willing to work harder for lower wages than their white counterparts.