> It's personally been very eye-opening for me over the past decade to see just how much the size of a country's economy can wielded as club to silence international opposition and how easily the international community goes along with it

That's the big shift occurring since the end of WWII. Countries lost power and influence to businesses & companies, every decade it's been more and more visible until the situation of today.

But it's not Chinese companies that go around making these threats -- it's the Chinese government with their ability to control those companies or cut off access to them. Same old monopoly on violence that's doing this, just wielded against your trading partners rather than you directly.

> But it's not Chinese companies that go around making these threats -- it's the Chinese government with their ability to control those companies or cut off access to them

In China, there's not much difference between the big companies and the government anyway.

The point is that refusing to trade with someone because they said something you don't like is not a good way to make money, and as such, one way or another, companies wouldn't take such measures were it not for the government's influence, regardless of the precise means of operation of that influence. If it were like you say, we'd see the influence of the companies undoing such government policies so that they can be unrestricted in their trade and make more money. That's not what we see. (Or likely we see it in other areas, but it's clear which way the influence runs in this one.)

> It's personally been very eye-opening for me over the past decade to see just how much the size of a country's economy can wielded as club to silence international opposition and how easily the international community goes along with it.

Just the last decade? The United States has been doing this to other countries for the last century or more.

The British Empire did it for hunreds of years before that.

International politics has always been like this though, powerful countries get to do what they want. Maybe the main reason it's eye-opening for you is because now it's done by a government you do not approve of?

Just as with decisions in China, nothing is truly inevitable here either.

Try /r/LateStageCapitalism/

Just the last decade? Are you American?