We may regret closer business links to China

I HAD a letter published (Write Back, February 7) in which I concluded by saying that democracy and free speech are hard-won freedoms that could easily disappear due to the demands of social media.

It didn’t take long to find another example. Tucked away on page 20 of the same edition there was a short piece about how Mercedes-Benz had apologised to the Chinese government for “wrong information that had hurt the feelings of the Chinese people”.

What was the cause of this wrong information? Mercedes-Benz had quoted the Dalai Lama in a social media post. The Dalai Lama is anathema to the Chinese regime and any mention of him is blocked by them.

However, the dollar speaks more loudly than free speech when it comes to multinationals in the West. So, another grovelling apology was issued by one of the world’s leading companies.

Having exported our industries and jobs to China in search of a fast buck, they (and, indeed, our country) find themselves in hock to Communist China, a totalitarian state with a dismal human rights record.

As China’s economic strength and political influence is allowed to grow (at our expense), one wonders what today’s dollar will cost us in the coming decades.

Perhaps “America First” isn’t as bad as it sounds and we should be more concerned about our own interests.

RAYMOND HUGHES Ballyclare, Co Antrim