We’re told that China manages shipbuilding, that the managed shipbuilding is all to joint use standards - military and civilian - and that this gives China power over the European Union:

China’s domination of international shipping and control of key European ports would enable it to choke global trade in the event of a conflict with the West over Taiwan, an EU research paper has warned.

The paper, which draws on Chinese government documents, found that “there is a growing politicisation and militarisation of China’s civilian maritime sector” at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions.

Therefore, as sure as eggs is eggs, there will be a call for the European Union to manage shipbuilding in its turn:

The European share of shipbuilding has shrunk to 4 per cent from 45 per cent in the 1980s. The continent’s share of the global shipping fleet is down from 20 per cent to 16 per cent. EU governments ban state subsidies for shipbuilding but China has stepped up state aid.

“The pursuit of political control and security — maritime nationalism — has remained prominent,” Holslag said. “China considers maritime power as an important building block of its national power and crucial for its national economic security. China has vast maritime power. Contrary to other countries, most of its maritime assets are controlled by the state.”

Slippery slope arguments are only logically valid if it really is inevitable that the second stumble will follow the first. It is indeed inevitable that someone will start calling for the management - and subsidy - of shipbuilding within Europe as a result of this analysis.

This always does happen when a mineshaft gap is spotted. So, there’s that to look forward to in the New Year then.