Recently, a piece of news has attracted global attention: EU countries are facing a dilemma in the production of missiles and artillery shells, and the reason is that their nitrocellulose ** was "cut off" by China! This seemingly ordinary chemical has become a "time bomb" in international relations.
The starting point of this story can actually be traced back to the "decoupling" of some Western countries from China. European countries, for example, have stopped importing cotton crops from China's Xinjiang province in order to denounce China's ethnic policies. However, this move inadvertently set off a chain reaction that eventually pushed the crisis to Europe's own doorstep.
Over the past few months, EU countries have faced a shortage of gunpowder, especially France. According to reports, it is difficult for France to continue manufacturing missiles and artillery shells because of the lack of an important raw material - nitrocellulose. And one of the main raw materials for this gunpowder, cotton, used to come mainly from China. However, a few months ago, China stopped continuing to ** cotton to France, causing nitrocellulose production to run into trouble.
For the EU, this is undoubtedly a huge blow. They had to face a scarcity of materials needed to make gunpowder, which directly threatened the security and military strength of the country. This also makes people wonder if Western countries have taken such consequences into account in the process of "decoupling" from China.
What's even more surprising is that China is not only the first country of nitrocellulose in France, but also an important businessman in the United States. According to the data, China has exported a large amount of nitrocellulose to the United States in the past year, accounting for 25% of its total imports5%。This has raised concerns among some who fear that the export of this strategic commodity poses a threat to China's security.
However, in fact, nitrocellulose is a primary industrial product with low technical added value. As long as there is enough cotton, nitrocellulose can be easily produced in any country. Therefore, China is not in an insecure situation because of the export of nitrocellulose. On the contrary, China has seized the lion's share of the global nitrocellulose export market, thus gaining a certain strategic advantage in international relations.
Now the EU countries are facing a shortage of gunpowder, which is not only an economic loss, but also a strategic challenge. They have had to re-examine their China policy and their relationship with China. In this era of globalization, it is impossible for any country to be independent from the rest of the world, and "decoupling" from China will only lead to a deeper predicament for itself.