Written by Xiaohudao Hu Yidao
Sanctioned 5 Chinese companies, and mentioned China 14 times in the G7 joint communiqué...
The just concluded G7 summit, and the upcoming NATO summit, both intentionally or unintentionally used the word "against China". "China is extremely tough" to show that the small circle led by the United States is still "as united as ever."
But behind this harmony, there is the embarrassment of the Japanese leader being obscured in the group photo, and there is also the division over the failure to impose a price ceiling on Russian oil. At the same time, the shadow of high inflation, slowing economic growth, and energy shortages in Europe this winter is still lingering in Europe and the United States.
It can be said that this year’s Western “small circle party” demonstrated the unprecedented weakness and divisions of this small group.
Moreover, the United States’ latest announcement of sanctions against Chinese companies has set another extremely bad precedent. This is also the first time since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out in February that the United States has taken action against a Chinese entity due to Russian-related business. According to past cases, once the United States opens a new opening, it will continue to expand the area of attack according to its own needs.
The international community should not take any chances.
01
Five more Chinese companies have been included in the sanctions list by the United States.
The reason this time is that they were suspected of violating sanctions by providing support to Russian military and defense companies before and during Russia's dispatch of troops to Ukraine .
This is also the first time since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out in February that the United States has taken action against a Chinese entity due to Russian-related business.
The picture shows the US Department of Commerce building in Washington
The five Chinese companies are Kangnai Electronics, Jinpai Technology, Cigna Electronics, Shengning Electronics and World Jetta (Hong Kong) Logistics.
It is worth mentioning that the so-called legal basis violated by these companies is the domestic law of the United States.
Liao Fan, a professor at the University School of Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told "Buyi Dao" that judging from this sanction, it is mainly in the field of export control, which is based on the U.S. Export Administration Regulations and the Bureau of Industry and Security of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The "Commerce Control List" (CCL) implements license management for the export of specific U.S. products and technologies to Russia. CCL includes thousands of dual-use equipment, materials, software and technologies, covering a wide range of areas. The US export control to Russia focuses on national defense, aviation, shipping and other industries.
Liao Fan said that according to regulations, export controls include not only products originating in the United States, but also products from third countries that contain a certain proportion of American ingredients or are produced using American technology and equipment. Since the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Bureau of Industry and Security of the U.S. Department of Commerce has included more third-country products into the scope of export controls to Russia by modifying proportion requirements and raising approval standards. Except in individual cases, no products from third countries will be subject to a case-by-case discussion. Export license. So the whole thing is stricter.
The so-called international sanctions should be strictly in accordance with the United Nations Charter and authorized by the United Nations Security Council , and should set clear goals, regular review regulations and conditions for lifting sanctions.
In addition, the U.S. Department of Commerce has also included 31 entities from Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Lithuania , Pakistan , Singapore , the United Kingdom, Uzbekistan and Vietnam on the blacklist.
At the same time, White House National Security Advisor Sullivan publicly admitted on his way to the NATO summit: There is almost no evidence that China supports Russia militarily, or has comprehensively violated the regulations imposed on Russia after sending troops to Ukraine. sanctions.
This is not the first time that the US has made similar statements.
In May of this year, senior US officials stated that so far, China has not been found to support Russia’s military operations against Ukraine militarily or economically.
Isn’t this a contradiction?
While sanctioning some Chinese companies, it says that China has not violated the sanctions.
The fundamental thing is that in the eyes of these politicians in the United States and the West, China's "fault" is that it has not done enough. Sullivan said that Beijing needs to make every effort to end this war because food and fuel prices have soared, and many Less developed countries suffered.
China and Russia maintain normal energy and economic and trade cooperation. Why does the United States block it? Do you want to use this to "punish" China?
The sanctions imposed by the United States on Chinese companies on the 28th set another extremely bad precedent. According to past cases, once the United States opens a new opening, it will continue to expand the area of attack according to its own needs.
The Chinese people are firmly opposed to this and will definitely take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of their own companies. They must also hurt the "long arm" that the United States keeps stretching out to teach it a lesson.
The international community also needs to stop it. The sooner it takes action, the smaller the degree and scope of the damage it will cause. Opposing hegemony is not only a moral imperative, but also a matter of interest. The international community should not take any chances with the United States.
The Chinese Embassy in the United States responded that China and Russia maintain normal energy and economic and trade cooperation, and the legitimate interests of Chinese companies should not be harmed. The United States imposes unilateral sanctions and so-called "long-arm jurisdiction" on other countries in accordance with domestic laws, violating international law and basic norms governing international relations. China will take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of its own enterprises.
02
html mentioned China 314 times.
The three-day G7 summit hosted by Germany came to an end on Tuesday. G7 In the joint communiqué issued by the leaders, "China" seemed to be the protagonist, being mentioned 14 times.
You must know that in the G7 joint communiqué a year ago, China was only mentioned 4 times.
Moreover, this year’s joint communiqué shows a different toughness from the past in terms of China-related statements. Although the conflict between Russia and Ukraine is the number one topic at this year's G7 summit, some participating countries seem to be afraid that it will steal the attention from "confronting China" and rigidly link the two.
The joint communiqué called on China to "must" urge Russia to comply with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly;
China should "give up" its maritime claims in the South China Sea;
made "unprecedented" severe criticism of China's human rights policy. ;
urges China to make "constructive contributions" to the debt relief plan of developing countries;
reminds China to abide by the United Nations Charter and "peacefully resolve cross-strait issues ";
...
This arrogant and arrogant attitude of pointing fingers is vivid. On paper.
U.S. officials said the joint statement was "unprecedented" within the G7.
In addition, politicians in some countries may feel that the G7 joint statement is not clear enough to express their anti-China stance, and have issued "voices of warning" against China on multiple occasions.
First is the UK.
British Defense Secretary Wallace urged increased defense investment to deal with threats not only from Russia, but also from other countries such as China.
The British government said in a statement on Tuesday night that Britain's defense spending this year is expected to reach 2.3% of GDP due to increased military support for Ukraine. Wallace called for the defense budget to be increased to 2.5% of GDP by 2028.
This is well above the threshold NATO requires member states to keep defense spending at 2%.
In addition, British Foreign Secretary Truss said at a recent group meeting attended by the prime ministers of Australia and Belgium that "sending troops to Taiwan" would be a "catastrophic miscalculation" by mainland China.
Truss said that G7 countries and Australia and other countries should use their "economic strength" to challenge China, and countries such as the United Kingdom can even reconsider the way they trade with China.
"Threaten China" with trade with China? The UK itself should first sort out its trade disputes with the EU.
As the UK unilaterally prepares to amend the "Northern Ireland Protocol", Johnson also proposed to extend steel import tariffs to protect the domestic steel industry. It is expected that another "trade fight" between the UK and the EU is inevitable.
At the same time, in the first quarter of 2021, China replaced Germany as the UK's largest import market. Data released by the British Department for International Trade on August 19, 2021 showed that as of the first quarter of 2021, the total trade in goods and services between China and the UK to £84.6 billion.
If the UK continues to insist on its own way and uses its trade relations with China as a tool for political games, I don’t know whose throat it will choke in the end.
followed by Japan.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida This trip to Europe has a very fulfilling schedule. After the G7 summit, he will continue non-stop and attend the NATO summit as an observer for the first time.
When talking about the situation in Ukraine, Kishida pointed out: "Today's Ukraine may be tomorrow's East Asia." He said that Japan will completely enhance its defense capabilities within five years and will ensure a considerable increase in its defense budget. In addition, in terms of security, it is necessary for the G7 to cooperate closely to safeguard the international order based on rules.
also once again mentioned the Diaoyu Islands and Taiwan Strait issues, saying firmly that attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by relying on force will not be allowed.
By voluntarily surrendering to NATO, a product of the old Cold War , increasing its defense budget, exacerbating regional tensions, and pursuing absolute security in the name of collective defense, Japan is intentionally or unintentionally introducing the scourge of the Cold War into the Asia-Pacific.
03
Why does the resolution of this G7 summit show a toughness towards China in rhetoric that was rarely seen in the past?
Cui Hongjian, director of the European Institute of the China Institute of International Studies, told "Bi Yi Dao" that this year's summit was mainly because this year's summit was held against the background of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The leaders of the G7 countries will first coordinate internally on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. At the same time, they will transfer the internal conflicts that cannot be resolved outward and put the responsibility on China.
From the perspective of the G7 countries, the reason why Russia can continue to fight is "probably China has played a role" to a certain extent. But even the United States admits that so far there is no evidence that China provides military resources to Russia or that China undermines Western sanctions against Russia. In this case, the main thing they can do is put diplomatic pressure on China. This G7 statement is actually more of a tough stance.
Next, if they still can’t find evidence, the measures they can take against China will actually become more and more limited. It is nothing more than building momentum in diplomacy and public opinion, or putting a few Chinese companies on a blacklist, just like what the United States has done recently. However, the sanctions imposed by the United States on Chinese companies are based on no concrete evidence and are more intended to intimidate us. It said that it could not find evidence that China supports Russia, and at the same time imposed sanctions on Chinese companies. This approach is actually difficult to win the support of European countries.
Cui Hongjian believes that the United States has been trying to bind China and Russia. On the one hand, it can deliberately emphasize China's influence on Russia and damage China's international image; on the other hand, it can shift the responsibility for the delay in resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict. To China. However, there have always been differences between the United States and Europe as to whether China and Russia should be bound.
On the one hand, European countries do not think that China and Russia are the same. After all, there are big differences between China and Russia in terms of problem-solving methods and policy starting points; on the other hand, it is difficult for them to solve their energy dependence on Russia at the same time. , and then solve the problem of dependence on the Chinese market. If we do that, it will be almost a disaster for the economies of most European countries.
Therefore, we have seen that during this period, leaders of European countries have mentioned that there is no way to deviate from the interests of cooperation with China.
Liao Fan, a professor at the Law School of the University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told "Buyi Dao" that the US sanctions against Russia can be divided into four major categories: specific regional sanctions, import and export restrictions, financial sanctions and other related sanctions. There are two types of sanctions. One is primary sanctions, which restricts U.S. companies, including U.S. technology products, from having contact with Russia. Another type of sanctions is expanded in scope, that is, when Russia is the target of US sanctions, Chinese companies and other countries' companies cannot cooperate with Russia or provide procurement support, etc. in the above-mentioned fields.
Especially Chinese companies involve using American technology, products or financial systems to achieve transactions with sanctions targets. For example, the most typical ones are the previous sanctions imposed by the United States on , Iran, and North Korea, which also required Chinese companies to comply.
This is a very domineering approach, and the United States, as a hegemonic country, relies on these means to maintain its position and suppress its opponents. The purpose is to make his boss's position stable for a long time. Therefore, it is expected that the United States will impose sanctions on Chinese companies under this pretext this time.
Previously, the United States mainly warned China and Russia about trade cooperation and oil procurement issues. In particular, the United States kept a close eye on military technical cooperation and military supply between China and Russia. However, the United States has never found the evidence they claimed.
There are now several changing factors:
First, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has entered a white-hot stage. Ukraine is currently at a disadvantage, and the United States and Europe are more anxious.
Second, it is difficult for the United States and Europe to provide any effective weapons to support Ukraine's military equipment. If they continue to provide heavy offensive weapons, it will be equivalent to the United States and the West directly participating in the war. Russia will definitely not agree. In that case, the war will There is a risk of a full escalation.
Third, as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine becomes protracted, the United States has discovered that although the previous financial sanctions, oil trade sanctions, and import and export controls have had an impact on Russia, it still cannot allow Russia to suspend military operations in the short term. So as these factors change, the United States will definitely increase the pressure on China and impose more restrictions on trade and cooperation between China and Russia through sanctions.
Regarding the harsh words in the G7 meeting communique, Liao Fan believes that it is more because of Russia and the current poor economic conditions in the United States and Europe. Inflation is serious, prices are rising, the people are dissatisfied, and there are many strikes and protests. . The United States and Europe have no good solution now. There have been strikes in several European countries recently.
Therefore, this also reflects the mentality of the G7 countries. They are very anxious, but there is no way. Therefore, it is hoped that China can change its trade policy and reduce its support for Russia. This in turn highlights China's importance.
pictures come from the Internet
