a sting in the tail

The Economistから表現を拾います。赤字で示したa sting in the tailは、「後になってわかる良くないこと」という意味合いです。LDOCEでは、“if a story, event, or announcement has a sting in the tail, there is an unpleasant part at the end of it”と定義されています。最終段落について、経済への政治的介入に批判的な姿勢を取るThe Economistらしい締めだなと感じました。(Othello)

Rattling the supply chains - Japan and China

Stunned as both Japanese producers and retailers are by the outbursts, there may be a sting in the tail for China. In contrast to 2005, the previous time anti-Japanese riots flared, China is not the only fast-growing, well-populated, low-cost market around. Back then, Japanese firms hedged their China risk with a “China-plus-one” strategy, implying that they would find an extra Asian supply hub, such as Thailand. Now, that has grown into a wider “China-plus” strategy, because their options these days have widened to include Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia, the Philippines and India.

As China’s wages rise and its economy slows, analysts say the risk that multinational supply chains may find alternative locations is something the government may want to think about the next time it lets vandals loose in the name of nationalism. Japanese businessfolk, meanwhile, might try harder to gag their clumsy nationalist politicians, who sparked the row over the islands in the first place.