364,000 different pharmaceuticals are manufactured in China. Many of these products are no longer made in the West because the Chinese products are cheaper.

These medicines are vital - life or death in many cases, and a decent or more comfortable and pain-free existence in many others.

What the hell have we done! Communist China uses trade as a weapon in its 'grey' war. Does anyone seriously think essential drugs wouldn't be cut off if it suited the Red Emperor? It's a certainty that they would be in a real war.

Our biggest supplier of pharmaceuticals - the US - sources most of its active ingredients from China. 95% of the US imports of ibuprofen and 40%-45% of its penicillin comes from China. Officials there have for some time been concerned that if China cut off its supply of drugs it could lead to a public health crisis. China has a 'chokehold' on supply, which could be used as an economic weapon to exploit the health armed forces and the public.

I wonder if the Morrison government or the ALP have any thoughts at all on this matter leading up to an election. It appears that Australia is not taking any measures at this time. Strategic policy expert Air-Vice Marshall John Blackburn, says that Australia’s attitude is "basically dumb".

The title was 'Australia Basically Dumb On China's Medicine Chokehold'. Gremlins.

It would make next to no difference to the general population nor the national economy if imports into Australia of pharmaceuticals was stopped. That's because at any given time there is a very small minority of the population for which "these medicines are vital - life or death in many cases"*. Even if you consider the people who take medications which are not immediately essential for continued life (eg: cholesterol tablets) it is still a small minority.

If ttbn wants to be worried about supply chains that China could disrupt and consequently cause major economic damage (not just to us but even globally) than he could write about China taking near complete control the computer chip supply by invading Taiwan. China's mainland companies plus Taiwan's account for the majority of the fabrication of advanced chips sold in the world. And if you control this then you can inflict major economic damage world-wide because chips are a fundamental component of many essential modern products.
We are currently experiencing an powerful example of disruptions to stable chip supply impacting other industries. The current supply has been impacted due to the Corona virus. And consequently many car manufactures are currently have production problems due to these shortages since modern cars have many chips in them.

*: indeed theoretically, in an Machiavellian way, the economy might even improve if these medications were stopped. Because the consumers for which pharmaceuticals are vital for continuing life are typically the non-productive elderly and/or the extremely sick, who usually are more of an economic burden than not.

We definitely need an assessment of the current
situation and a preparedness by government to
spend more in areas such as manufacturing,
Research and development and investing in a
skilled workforce.

This should happen even if it makes medicines more
expensive because the singular force on keeping
medicines as cheap as possible comes at the expense
of a guarantee of supply.

If we don't ask what the lowest cost really means to
our national resilience then we're going to have
serious problems as a society.

Thinkabit,

What is the size of this "small minority"? More baby boomers than currently are would be dropping like flies without vital medication. New born babies are suffering from new ailments that weren't heard of in my time. You don't care about older people who are still loved and of use to society, of course. But, I would like to hear what size your "small minority" is; what your definition of a small minority is.

And, my post is only about pharmaceuticals - not computer chips, which, if that is your bag, you are welcome to post on anytime you want

This is really disturbing stuff.
Both my husband and I rely heavily on our
medications. I take more tablets than he does.
And if my supply was to run out - the health risks
to me would be a matter of life and death.