They're terrified because until this year there were two types of high-end civilian ships China could not build competitively - cruise liners and LNG carriers.
Now Chinese ship builders have cracked both so there are no more high-profit low-volume niches for Westoid shipbuilders to hide in. Western (or even South Korean) shipyards will become increasingly reliant on government subsidies to stay afloat, which will be extremely expensive since even with subsidies they will find it hard to compete with the scale advantage of Chinese yards.
The last arrow in the Western quiver is to paint Chinese cruise ships and LNG carriers as national security risks to justify sanctions and prevent Western cruise companies from buying from them.
So - it's basically an Onion article?
They're terrified because until this year there were two types of high-end civilian ships China could not build competitively - cruise liners and LNG carriers.
Now Chinese ship builders have cracked both so there are no more high-profit low-volume niches for Westoid shipbuilders to hide in. Western (or even South Korean) shipyards will become increasingly reliant on government subsidies to stay afloat, which will be extremely expensive since even with subsidies they will find it hard to compete with the scale advantage of Chinese yards.
The last arrow in the Western quiver is to paint Chinese cruise ships and LNG carriers as national security risks to justify sanctions and prevent Western cruise companies from buying from them.