Will You Be Trying to Boycott Chinese Products?

Hey All

With the diplomatic row between Aus and China over the last few weeks culminating in the tweets from the Chinese embassy, there’s been an obvious rising of tensions between the countries.

Given how ridiculous and ironic china’s position is, to have the gall to call out Australia for human rights abuses do you feel more strongly about trying to avoid products manufactured in China?

The report itself was Australia holding itself to account, it could have easily been covered up never to see the light of day but Australia relative to the rest of the world is one with more integrity than that.

I don’t see how China could ever lecture a country like Australia when it comes to war crimes/human rights abuse given their long track record, most notably the persecution of the Uighur population as well numerous other violations ranging from censorship to imprisonment/torture of dissidents. I don’t see China holding itself to account for those crimes anytime soon.

I like the idea in theory of boycotting Chinese made products but the reality is unfortunately from my perspective is that the supply chain is far too integrated in China to be able to boycott anything. Hopefully western businesses are more incentivised now to move their supply chains away from China but that will a long and slow process over many years possibly decades.

So TLDR will you be trying to avoid Chinese made products or are we in a situation that these products are so pervasive with our current lifestyles there’s nothing we can really do at the moment.

Edit: Poll added. Good suggestion.

Poll Options

  • 839
    Yes I will and do avoid Chinese made products wherever I can
  • 34
    Yes but only if the equivalent product is the same price and quality
  • 333
    Would like to avoid but can’t because of limited choice/availability/price
  • 239
    Don’t care whatever’s cheapest
  • 133
    Don’t care at all and would still buy Chinese made even if there was a choice of equivalent produc

Comments

  • +11

    Time to fix our problems.
    By becoming self sufficient.
    Reduce cost of living so even those on minimum wage can live good life and have less reliance on social security.
    Start giving massive subsidies for innovation
    Start becoming global supplier of goods and services
    Find new markets to do trade deals with (look at India)
    Revisit free trade agreement with China, stop/block cheap imports.
    Harness what we already have and improve on it
    Bring back manufacturing
    Make it easier for people to own their own homes. This alone with make a massive difference in people's ability to pay a fair price for local product.

    • -5

      I said it before and its an inconvenient truth for some but We have relied on Chinese money for too long to fund our extensive welfare system and need to start by cutting our enormous welfare budget to save costs. The solution would be to cut minimum wages and the costs of doing business so that manufacturing can be brought back into Australia and we can be more self-reliant. Wages and welfare in Australia are way too high, driving up the costs of business and disincentivising Australians to do any real work.

      Too many citizens on Jobseeker,etc despite fruits going to waste for want of fruitpickers (because they are too lazy to pick fruits despite being unemployed and need fruitpickers from third world countries to do the job for us, really??)

      • Housing should be made cheaper so everyone can afford one. When I say afford, someone on minimum wage should be able to buy a place to live (not a mansion but a humble 2 bedder) . Otherwise it's a vicious cycle for them and forever burden for the welfare system.
        I know people who closed down the door of their business because wage expense was too high. We are country full of smart people, surely there is a way.

      • +1

        Such an ignorant comment. Welfare is hardly a fraction on our national spending and most of it is from pensioners.

        Farmers want backpackers to pick fruits instead of locals is because they’re easy to exploit and the pay is below minimal wage for 10-12 hours of back breaking work for 6 days per week. It’s literally a modern day slave type environment.

        Maybe educate yourself more about how dirty and the slave like conditions the horticulture sector is.

        https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-17/fwo-investigates-clai…

        • Are you saying that its okay for another human being to pick fruits but not yourself? Or do you consider yourself too good to pick fruits and rather be unemployed on the dole? Way to go putting yourself on a pedestal over another fellow human being like that!

          Just remember you only have this option because of our extremely well funded welfare which is cracking under the strain of people like you, without which you will be no differrent from the backpackers who put in some elbow grease to make a living.

          • @xdigger: Hilarious comment. I live in the suburbs, why should I relocate to the middle of nowhere in the country for 6 months of a year, then be out of work the following off season? Yeah it’s very convenient is it…

            Farmers want slaves to be exploited and Aussies aren’t of no use to them..

            Also if the greedy farmers wanted local workers, they should improve their accomodation to facilitate local aussie workers. Could also add the government could pay job seekers up to 50% of their wage if they have the incentive to relocate. It will be a very enticing proposition for those out of work and a win win for both parties.

          • @xdigger: Those backpackers put in elbow grease because they have to - it has nothing to do with being better than someone else; just being in a better position of power which is Griffindinho's entire point. They are easy to exploit because they have no good options - why would you encourage or glorify that?

      • +1

        Wages and welfare are a reflection of the cost of living. The fruit picking thing is such a bs distraction as its seasonal and most people do not live in the areas that fruit is picked. Do we expect everyone to pile on to buses and live in dorm accommodation (can they afford that if they are on welfare in the first place?) and then when finished go back to their home city and use all that hard earned fruit picking money to survive until the next season?

      • +1

        @dofdaus. So you want austerity measures to be put in to increase the production of Aus?

        Well let’s say a manufacturing plant that requires 100 linesmen and 30 QC officers was setup in Australia. We cut the minimum wage down to $10 p/h and non unionised for this plant to be just barely economically viable just exactly who would fill these positions? The former welfare recipients that have got no choice now to wrk these jobs.

        I don’t think we should be trying to put our own Australian citizens under same appalling working conditions Chinese citizens suffer through.

        This would just create a massive underclass of the working poor and lead to a whole host of social problems like we see in the US such as ghettos and a continual cycle of non participation.

        You don’t think it’s little shortsighted? We need well thought out policy and research into how our particular society can move forward. There’s no easy answer but Aus is one of the few countries in the world that has a head start on this.

        • Excessively paid tradies and high penalty rates are the main reason why Australia is relatively under-developed and can only support less than a tenth of the USA population as compared to the continental USA which has the same land mass as us. There is literally no other major reasons to account for the difference with USA (happy to be proven wrong).

          Given our massive natural resources and land mass, we could have been a much more powerful country to stand up to China if not for piss poor government policies and all too powerful (and often corrupted) unions.

    • +1

      we dont like working hard. This is not achievable for us

    • by how? why on earth a third party countries buy good from Aus for doubled or tripled price over the chinese made ones?

      The truth is China exporting low quality goods to meet market needs, not they can only make rubbish goods. Actually, nowadays they could make higher quality daily consumable goods than the rest of world.

      What behinds the low price is not goods quality, it is worker cost. Can Aus reduce worker wages to same level as chinese ones? like paying $2/hour, would that be possible?

  • Why do China always have beef with other countries… can't get along with anyone but Thailand.

    • They don't really get along with Thailand either… See Milk Tea alliance. They do get along with Pakistan though I believe.

    • Because they had enough bullying from western countries in the pass 100 years? Now time to stand up and let all pay back?

      • Bit of a scam to claim it's "western countries" or do you think China and India are having a good time being buddy-buddy? Or China and Japan…. Or China and Taiwan? The list goes on but keep trying to defend China eh

        • I never buy America fruits, only Australia grown fruits. No matter how much i love the fruits, I will wait for the right Australia seasonal fruits, for some good or bad reasons (doesn't matter), Australia fruits are more expensive.

  • +2

    If boycotts made a difference Harvey Norman would have been out of business a decade ago.

    • +1

      I honestly don't know anyone who shops at Harvey Norman, and the last time I bought something from his stores was around 2010. I personally would never want to support him, but plenty people apparently do. I'm just glad none of my money is going to him. That's all I can do.

      We can do the same thing in our own little way with products made in China. I was recently shopping for engine oil and selected a Shell product, but it was made in Hong Kong. It went back on the shelf. I paid more for Australian made. (For the pedants, I realize HK is not strictly China, but with the recent law changes it's basically a China owned and run territory).

      I know I can't change the world. I don't pretend that I can. But I can be satisfied with who I choose to support with my money.

      • do we have refineries?

  • https://imgur.com/a/APVZCPp

    Yes, also must -apologize!!- .

  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Untold_History_of_the_Unit…

    Try to borrow this from your local library, watch it and you will say "Yes, they must apologize"

  • +2

    Funny how I got so many downvotes when I talked about avoiding Chinese made products a few months ago. It's just not the fact that they are hostile to us as a country its also they are using slaves to have a competitive advantage. I know it's not always possible to avoid made in China but if we support options made in Australia or other friendly countries we motivate companies sourcing from China to pick other countries or even Australia for that matter. This means more jobs for us and less foreign exchange in China's pocket which is used to exploit its own people and bully the people of other countries. Do your bit for Australia.

    • i think you mean do your bit for America - a country that promotes child slavery as good business…its all online

      • Yeah not a fan of poor minimum wage in America either - there's no reason we can't dislike both is there Petry?

  • I have stopped using Didi and gone back to Ola to boycott China.

  • +4

    I'd avoid buying both the US and China goods. Because the US was who caused this for us in the first place and are the ones gaining from all this. The only loser here is Australia for being the fall guy for doing the US's dirty work.

  • I only buy products from the supreme leader Kim Jung-un

  • +1

    The funny thing is, most says they will boycott chinese products, but selling businesses and property to chinese investors is ok as long as one makes a hefty profit. I once asked a co worker if he's selling his property between a local who's offer has a little profit or a chinese investor who offers way more than he ask for, yep, I'm sure you already know the answer.

    • Because boycotting Chinese products is on a smaller cost sale - the sale of someone's business or property is big life-changing money. One is obviously easier to do than the other. I'd also expect poorer Aussie families to give less of a shit about boycotting China and focusing on buying the cheapest goods - it makes perfect sense - why are you confused?

  • This is clash in cultural and values. Good lesson to the world.

  • +3

    Australia did boycott Huawei and 5G. Don't get the overreaction when China doesn't accept Australian products.

  • +9

    The problem I see here is local Australians speak so loudly about boycotting Chinese goods, complain about cheap labour and a really do nothing about it. Some continue to buy it because it's cheaper.

    Resolution, get off centrelink, lower the minimum wage and get producing. Simple as that. It is beneficial for all of us. Once we get Australian made products to either level, 10% or 20% higher then we would have achieved something as a country.

    Reality, sit at home and lecture everyone on Facebook / Social Media about how bad china is.

    Which one is better for our country?

    • +1

      I said it before and its an inconvenient truth for some but we have relied on Chinese money for too long to fund our extensive welfare system and need to start by cutting our enormous welfare budget to save costs.

      The solution would be to cut minimum wages and the costs of doing business so that manufacturing can be brought back into Australia and we can be more self-reliant. Wages and welfare in Australia are way too high, driving up the costs of business and disincentivising Australians to do any real work.

      • Dofdaus:"Wages and welfare in Australia are way too high, driving up the costs of business and disincentivising Australians to do any real work"

        Not really it depends on how you look at it, if your purely foreign, or invest in foreign then investing than the wages here are gracious enough to build a business overseas, think about it, Chinese yuan is worthless in china, but in Australia it's gold? Why because china has strict monopoly on money in chin, and no one is outside the realm until chinese diplomats start knocking on your door to act as a informant, or to punish those seeking to return.

        And the other side is australia, getting ahead in australia can be no different then china, the rules here to buy property may not be as demoralising as china but your trapped in mortgage debt til death do us part.

        So investing overseas in property or business becomes much viable then in australia because to get a ahead here is just as hard as china, it becomes a double standard of looking out for one's self rather the community.

      • Our welfare system is poor compared to that in Scandinavian countries, and they haven't been reliant on Chinese money to fund it. We really should just copy whatever Sweden/Norway et al is doing regarding how it manages the economy, social welfare system, local business etc.

        • +2

          Norway is oil rich, Sweden is also heavy in resource exports as well as tech and pharma. Both also have the advantage of being on the doorsteps of some of the largest markets in the world to drive their economy and pay for those economic and welfare based systems. we are not in a position to replicate either of them.

        • Compared to the rest of the world, our welfare system is too well-funded to the point of excesses, and Centrelink payments should be cut to wean the undeserving off the dole. It may sound harsh to some but I don't think sitting on your bum for a week or two should entitle one to enough money to buy a PS5, courtesy of other honest hardworking taxpaying Australians.

          The Scandinavian countries such as Norway has huge oil/gas reserves to fund their ridiculous welfare system, which they do by exporting to their European neighbours. I honestly don't think the Europeans are going to buy up our billions in dirty coal export, despite the lip service they pay in wanting to buy a few crates of Aussie wines.

  • +1

    Kishore Mahbubani views on dealing with rising China and Asia. If you don't know who he is, he has a Wiki page.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ojr-tqaQQOQ
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsJWs6Z6eNs

    • +1

      Kishore is not a neutral voice and is compromised.

  • +1

    Good luck with that, gone to buy a whole sale of products from china.

    Will sell to some bogan that's new to online.

    Oh wait all the scalpers online buying up ps5 and Xbox series X, are manufactured in China, and demand for them are high, good luck with not buying Chinese products, china owns Australia, why bother.

    https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/australian-economy/h…

  • The fight back has to be across all organs of our democracy, which should include people too
    India is doing well and can be a template
    https://zeenews.india.com/economy/traders-record-rs-72000-sa…
    Most of the indian importers using chinese apps to order from China and the Indian government banned it, making it difficult for small exporters to import from China.

  • +1

    Not so fussed about their dumb propaganda, which ironically is on a platform they block their own citizens from accessing. Afterall, it's like the tweet equivalent of a News Corp front page and we tolerate those with no problem.

    The more vexxing thing is their inexplicable trade bans and tariffs as retaliation on completely unrelated political issues. To be honest, seems very childish and not much different from Trump's tariff war. Except I believe China has been pulling this stuff even before Trump even came into power.

  • The PS5 is made in China…. So should I not buy???

    • +1

      of course not - you should make a stand and throw it away….

    • As long as it's not a chinese brand. It can be made in other countries too.

    • I have an empty bin if you need

  • Go for pure Aussie or Non Chinese items. If that's not possible, buy a Non Chinese brand if its made in China.
    Try not to be unbranded mobile case or small electronic items and go for Non Chinese branded ones. Go for Korean branded mobiles if not Apple.
    Same with smaller consumer brands where you can look for Aussie or non Chinese alternatives.
    It might be a bit expensive, but we get our freedom back.

    • +2

      you ain't got that much freedom these days - you gave it away by believing yank propaganda, and you won't be getting it back because you are still eating it up..

      'pure aussie' is a nonsense term 'cept for white supremacists…

      • Han supremacy will be worse., the they are ready to jump ship.and move to the land where whites rule.

        • so that's why everyone wants a green card….

      • +1

        It's pretty clear he was referring to "purely Australian made" items when he said pure Aussie and that's very clearly not a nonsense term. Your tangent does nothing to add to the conversation other than try to shift focus away from what is a very good concept - focus on locally grown/produced items if possible.

        The only thing nonsense is how you managed to get any upvotes

        • -1

          its a nonsense term because pure is being used in nationalist terms.

          logically if you do not have a problem with nationalist purity being associated with products then clearly you also probably ascribe to the concept of racial purity which means you have racist beliefs.

          you have no idea of what the poster meant - you just stuck in your idea in order to attack me and others who do not ascribe to what are usually viewed as fascist beliefs.

          • @petry: The poster said

            Go for pure Aussie or Non Chinese items.

            Items, not people, including as a subset items grown or manufactured by any race living in Australia. I'm just going by exactly what the poster said instead of the half that suits my narrative i.e. "pure Aussie".

            Also you can be nationalistic for all of the races that are living here as Australians - your arms aren't long enough for the reach that is directly ascribing racism and an idea of racial purity to that. Nationalist != racist. Racists and fascists may indeed also be nationalistic but your assumption that everyone who is nationalistic is racist or fascist is again, the only nonsense here.

            • -1

              @sakurashu: mate

              if you think nationalist / racial purity ain't anything to do with fascist or racist beliefs you're dreaming…..

  • I am quite happy to pay 20% extra on most goods to avoid supporting a communist regime.
    Sadly on mobile phones this is hard . Anybody got realistyg suggestions on how to avoid?
    Chinese car? Never, I'd rather walk!
    Chinese bed? Nah I would sleep on a yoga mat.
    Taiwan originally was populated by Aboriginals. So sad what happens over there.
    I would never critisise Qantas for anything else other than cancelling the name Taiwan and replace it with something communistic!

    • -2

      stop going online, stop talking to others on your phone, i'm sure you'll be happier and everyone else.

  • +10

    Personally I'm going to keep buying Chinese, and I'm sure most people are even though they say they aren't. Y'all letting politicians' spat getting into your head. Do what's best for you.

    • +2

      Yep. Dont forget our ozbargain spirit deeply in soul.

    • I find it amusing and hypocritical that so many advocate to boycott Chinese goods while watching this site like a hawk, hoping to score a bargain. Don't they realise most of the stuff posted here is made in China?

      • Plenty of great bargains for Australian goods - ever heard of RM Williams?

    • Plenty of people were already leaning this way - but agreed that people should do what's best for them. It's not so easy to take more expensive goods if you're on a shoestring budget

  • +2

    if you bought Apple, you bought a product from China, buy Samsung

    • buy yank and swallow

  • +3

    You will hurt yourself more than Chinese.

    • Which is why there needs to be united action from the rest of the world … which won't happen.

  • +1

    I've noticed the websites for Chemist Warehouse and others have links like "中文网站" and "来自中国的客户?请访问中文网站" which take visitors to the Chinese version of these websites.

    Is this the kind of behaviour we as consumers should be encouraging?

    When China cuts off these companies and they come crawling back to Australians, are we going to support them?

    • +1

      That's just a side effect of capitalism

    • +1

      It's just to accommodate to many people in Australia who speak Mandarin…in the same way there's an arabic version of most sites in Australia too.

      • +1

        Incorrect. The Chinese sites are specifically for offshore customers. Prices are in yuan. Customs information and stock availability is different. When COVID first hit I remember things like Vitamin C were available to Chinese customers but out of stock for Australian customers.

        • So it's basically like websites that allow me to change to 'AUD' or 'USD' pricing….which is nearly every international website or US website I purchase off?

          • -1

            @MissTamriel: No - jlev very clearly said some items were out of stock for Australian consumers but available on this other version of the site. That is not something ordinary international websites do when changing currencies.

  • I can see where this going to end. If Australian isn't going to buy Chinese goods and the Chinese isn't going to buy Australian goods can you see the imbalance.
    1.3 billion vs 25.52 million.

    • +2

      Doesn't matter. That's another propaganda by the Chinese. Let them give Chinese made chemical tainted infant formula to their kids

      • +1

        the truth is Australia is not the only country manufacturing baby formula, it is just one of them. DaiGou is all over the world to ship these things back to China, New Zealand, Japan, Whole Europe, North America, i guess these countries will be more than happy to see Australia out of the game.

      • Truth is most chinese kids are grown up with their formula just fine, while our kids will be missing a lot. no computer, no playstation etc which all made from china…

          • +2

            @[Deactivated]: with Apple and Samsung shifting their production elsewhere, it won't be long before others follow suit.

            computers - build your own to minimise MiC, my cpu/ram/motherbother/ssd/graphics card ain't made over there

            my latest Sony phone ain't made in China anymore, can the Playstation be far behind?

  • +3

    Whilst I support businesses selling to whoever they can get the most profit from, even if that means the chinese, I would rather the chinese stop buying Australian things, so at least I (and many here) can go and have a chance of buying whatever they stop buying.

    I want to eat lobster once a week if the price was right and not like the upwards of $200/kg it can regularly be asked for. I want green lip abalone and higher end seafood, again for acceptable prices that I am happy to pay.

    I want to drink properly decanted Australian wines at $50 per bottle, not the $130 retail price for a St Henri or 389. I have about a dozen or so higher end TWE wines in my cellar but would easily buy and store more if the price was more appopriate - if Grange was $200/bottle, count me in hallelujah. I'd go buy a dozen right now, but at $800 per bottle, forget about it but if the Chinese want to pay that much - good for them and TWE.

    • +3

      Agreed. Austrialian businesses have been ripping off fellow Aussies for too long and this trade war with China is a good way for them to repay the faith in terms of cheaper Aussie goods for Aussie consumers.

    • +1

      for a short term yes, for long term, they prefer to through them to the sea instead of selling you with low price. they will control the volume to control the market price with profit.

  • +3

    Unfortunately, Australian consumer goods are about 1% of China's export business but about 80% of Australian wholesale/retail consumer goods business, so a boycott is just going to bankrupt our own businesses.
    On the other hand, China Dan is going to borrow $10 Billion off his masters to build roads and hospitals. so materials not imported from China will be manufactured in Australia by Chinese owned companies like Holland, and chinese labour on 457 visas will do all the work, so we get all the debt, with no return. Boycott CHINA DAN

  • I think some have to remember its the Chinese government and media that we have taken exception to and not the Chinese people.

    The Chinese community in Australia are an amazing part of our multicultural society. Does racism exist? Sure. It is almost inevitable given the multitude of nationalities in this country; something China and the like would never consider implementing with policy reminiscent of the old "white Australia policy".

    • +2

      I see massive support to the CCP in the Australian Chinese media here. Only the pre-Tiananmen square Chinese are loyal to their new countries.

  • +6

    I'd rather boycott a government that does anti-China lip service while simultaneously allowing them to buy mega farms and water allocation, sucking the resources out from under us. Why is it being left up to individual Australians to manage foreign policy? Why has the government allowed foreign interests to buy major agricultural resources here? Why not divest from this?

    (Spoiler: Aus government is sabre rattling but still want the money).

  • so many pro China-communist government personals have been commenting here, our site has been infiltrated by the enemy lol

    • Immigrants should have vowed to be patriotic to Australia only when they got their citizenships. Potentially they have broken their vows if they are still loyal to CCP. No one can serve two masters!

      • Agreed. Liberal senator Abetz has tried to get Chinese Australians to renounce the CCP for years.
        https://www.smh.com.au/national/i-was-born-in-australia-why-…

        In order to not be seen as racist, we should get all immigrants to our country to renounce their ties to their country of origin, for example, the pommies should also reject their UK heritage as well. We should also ban dual nationalities citizens and obviously government ministers should NOT hold two passports. Australia should only be for Australians!

        • +5

          Bruh Eric Abetz? who is considered a nut job even by his own party?

          Abetz should probably sit down and stfu . His views are not too different to those of his family members who were in the Nazi party. True story.

      • +1

        Absolutely — and especially so when the system of government and underlying system of values is so very different to our own. Sadly a large number of Chinese simply see Australia as an outpost of China. Even our own political system has been infiltrated by the CCP (think Gladys Liu and Simon Zhou) and I'm expected to simply let it stand, because as a white person any criticism I might level at a non-white person is, of course, racism at work.

      • Aussies are not even allowed to celebrate Australia Day and be proud of our country.
        Ballarat the latest council to strike it from the list and they are mostly centre right.
        There is a full blown campaign of destabilization with political groups that are sympathetic to China to get rid of anything that is seen as patriotic and divide us further.

  • +9

    Oh f off no way

    Australia be like a shop who talks shit about its biggest customer, China. China shops elsewhere. Australia proceeds to consider taking it to the WTO. What a weak move. Australia instead should just mind its own bloody business and stop stepping in US dogshit. We end up hurting our own people.

  • +1

    One of the bad move by aussie was to sell most of the companies to china..which is hitting back & taking toll on everybody

  • +4

    China has an absolute bloody cheek posting an image of an Aussie digger with knife to baby’s throat.
    The country with the worst human rights record on the planet. Trying to lecture Australia. Sheer hypocrisy.

    Take that same image dress the soldier up in uniform of CCP army officer with knife held to Ugyer or journalist or Tibetan or lawyer or human right activist or anybody with the slightest criticism of the Chinese political system and that would be more accurate representation.

    The bloody nerve.

      • +3

        No one is saying what happened in Afghanistan is something most Australians are proud of.

        Just that China a country with much worse human rights record has bloody cheek criticising Australia.

        Classic situation of the pot calling the kettle black.

        Hypocrisy of the Chinese government to even raise the question of human rights or human killings.

        • +1

          Classic situation of the pot calling the kettle black

          Your summarised it quite well, so why the fury?

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