“China expects foreign companies as good corporate citizens to demonstrate that they understand what China’s agenda is, and to contribute to it,” said the old China hand.
“That especially applies to foreign players in industries that China has defined as strategically important.”
Shipping has been designated one such industry under former leader Hu Jintao and even more so now under Xi Jinping, who has made a headline foreign policy and economic initiative out of his “One Belt, One Road” (OBOR) transport infrastructure programme, including the Maritime Silk Road.
