Some tin-ear optimists tell us the anti-China rhetoric from the recent Group of Seven (G7) meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, could have been a lot worse. In addition to American President Joe Biden teasing the possibility of an upcoming thaw in China-U.S. relations, the world was reassured that decoupling was not an objective. Instead, the G7 countries of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States plus the “non-enumerated” European Union seek “de-risking.”
For those unfamiliar with the term, “derisking” seems innocuous. Some equate it with risk management, hedging strategies, due diligence and so on—practices that nations, companies, families and individuals smartly embrace to better secure their interests and wellbeing. For example, China does not want to be energy-dependent on Russia. China buys a lot of energy from Russia, but
