I figured it was a cheap form of protectionism. While it makes it harder for exporters it also makes it harder for importers. It helps maintain a separate local

I figured it was a cheap form of protectionism. While it makes it harder for exporters it also makes it harder for importers. It helps maintain a separate local tooling and consumable pipeline which helps with war fighting, it probably also makes money for donors. I think the sheer scale of Chinas exports can and has easily overcome that hurdle so the protectionist aspect is now much less relevant.