Is China using the U.S. and Europe's economic war on Russia to further drive a wedge between the East and West?
ZeroHedge thinks so, tweeting last week, "For the past two years, China had at most 50-100 new daily COVID cases. Now it's 5000, and it is shutting down key supply chain arteries that feed the US economy."
It's the timing, but it's also the fact that China notoriously underreported its own COVID-19 cases- until now, when its numbers seem bloated in comparison to the rest of the world.
So which businesses and industries are being impacted the most? Last week, China shut down major manufacturing sites in Shenzhen. Apple just showed off a new line of budget iPhones in Shenzhen last week, and according to the Wall Street Journal, "At least six other companies on the Apple list are based in Shenzhen."
WSJ also highlighted that some businesses were deemed essential and allowed to stay open. Like, for instance, "telecommunication equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co. and electric-vehicle maker BYD Co. , which produces electric cars and batteries."
This is on the heels of supply line shortages for technological necessities like computer chips, which is driving prices of electronics up drastically.
Additionally, Shanghai Disney has been forced to close by the Chinese government, citing 42 coronavirus cases as of Sunday. This in a city with a population of 26 million.
Ryan Wiggins is the author of the extremely serious and not funny robot novel, The Life of Human, and is a writer and producer of television shows. He is the host of Wiggins America on 97.1 FM Talk in St. Louis.