the Escalation between Beijing and Washington — the long haul.
Between China and the United States is such a level of confrontation that many political analysts called the second cold war. Only in recent days, the States had to submit to the Congress a bill on sanctions against China under the name “the responsibility for COVID-19”, to accuse Beijing in attempts to steal U.S. a vaccine against coronavirus and lips of the leader of Donald trump not to exclude “total rupture” of relations with China. The threatening rhetoric sounds in response and from Beijing although the Chinese authorities officially not talking about counter-sanctions, the expert community of China calls for the most rigid response to the hostile attacks due of the ocean. What happens — in the article “Izvestia”.
Introduction to the U.S. Congress this week the bill on sanctions against China under the name “the responsibility for COVID-19” it was hardly a bolt from the blue.
And, in fact, just moved from words to action, proposing to give the President the authority to impose restrictions against China (including the freezing of assets, cancellation of visas and a ban on his companies IPO in the US) if Beijing refuses to cooperate in the investigation of the origin, coronavirus, confirms the closure of all markets of wild animals in the country and at the same time do not release political prisoners in Hong Kong.
may 14, the U.S. Senate approved another anti-Chinese act on human rights in Xinjiang. This bill, supported by the house of representatives in December, will allow to impose sanctions against officials of the PRC, responsible, according to the Americans, for organizing labor camps in special Xinjiang administrative region of China. By the way, the Americans were not indifferent to the fate of one Chinese area of Tibet. On the approach of the bill, focusing on U.S. support for the independent election of the following the Dalai Lama forces in the Tibetan Buddhist community, without interference in the process of Chinese authorities.
Intensified on the Chinese front, not only lawmakers, but also representatives of the American intelligence community and security agencies. On may 13, the Department of homeland security and the FBI issued a warning that China could launch cyber attacks on the websites of the American research institutes and pharmaceutical companies to steal the data associated with vaccines against coronavirus. And the Pentagon reiterated China’s expansion into the South China sea, promising the end of the month to return to the region for its aircraft carrier “Theodore Roosevelt”, bred temporarily incapacitate the epidemic.
the Apotheosis of the whole anti-Chinese campaign was the last appearance of Donald trump. May 14-in.��view Fox Business news, the White house said his disappointment at the failure of China to contain the epidemic, adding that the US “could completely break off relations” with Beijing.
Chinese officials traditionally abstained from oncoming threats. On the last press-conference representative of the Chinese foreign Ministry Zhao Lijiang urged the US to stop “slander China to discredit the country” and “to play this pointless game of accusations.” To talk about the likely retaliatory sanctions, he did not. Did not answer this question “news” and the Chinese foreign Ministry.
But the temptation to speculate about the possible punishment USA will not deny themselves the Chinese press. The newspaper Global Times, long playing the role of unofficial mouthpiece of the authorities, said that at least four lawmakers of the U.S. Congress and two organizations will be included in the sanctions list China in retaliation for the lawsuits, which Americans filed against Beijing in the court for damage caused to them by the coronavirus. The newspaper even called some of the recipients by name.
— I do not know of any case where China would be punished individuals. Toolkit better suited for the punishment of companies or States, but not individuals, I argued this in an interview with “Izvestia” Director of China Power Project at the Center for strategic and international studies in Washington D.C. Bonnie Glaser. — In the case of a specific country, the Chinese could just cut its imports from there, or exchanges, beneficial to the country.
In the past China had done so. When Seoul was hosting the American missile defense system THAAD, the Chinese simply advised to refuse tourist trips to Korea and a boycott of South Korean products, which immediately affected the economy of Kazakhstan. The same manoeuvre Beijing cranked the other day and with Australia after Canberra’s call for an independent investigation of the causes of the pandemic coronavirus. First, there was speculation that against unfriendly actions of Patriotic citizens of China will begin to boycott products from Australia, and then Beijing for “technical reasons” banned the import of Australian beef and barley.
it is possible that a similar story could happen with American Missouri, whose policies are being particularly trying on an anti-Chinese front. China, where Missouri in 2019 exported goods and services to $1.1 billion and $775 million respectively — state the third most important market. It is no coincidence that his most commonly mentioned now Chinese media in the context of the response.
however, the indirect impact on trade with a single state may call into question the viability of all retail transactions in the US and China reached more effort in January.
it is Unlikely to be effective and the United States attempt to investigate the actions of Chinese authorities in the beginning of the epidemic.
— China is an independent and sovereign country. She just would not participate in such litigation, — told “Izvestia” expert of the Department of East Asian politics College of Humanities and social Sciences of the University of Houston-downtown Peter Lee.
He referred to the case of a claim of the Philippines against China in the International Tribunal for the law of the sea, a decision which Beijing simply ignored. A waste of time the expert has considered a lawsuit against China about the compensation.
According to experts, suing China for the damage of a pandemic, the U.S. set a dangerous precedent: by the same logic many in the world can think about the lawsuits demanding compensation for the damage caused to the American banking collapse in 2008 which triggered the global financial crisis.
— Should the European countries to ask Russia for compensation of damage caused by the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster? Countries in the Middle East have valid reasons to ask States to compensation for disaster caused by their invasion of Iraq — supported expert examples of the absurdity of the claims of the United States.
As reminded “news” the Director of the Center for military and political analysis at the Hudson Institute Richard Weitz, concerns about China rising in both political parties of America for several years. It is due to unfair trade practices and Beijing’s alleged theft of intellectual property and its assertive territorial claims in neighbouring territories and military build-up, as well as with the policy of China in respect of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
— the Steps to counteract these Chinese practices will continue regardless of which political party controls the Congress and the President. They can include additional economic countermeasures, such as tariffs and control of investments, and military reinforcements in the USA Asia Pacific region and strategies to counter misinformation, summed up Richard Weitz.
“Despite all efforts of the ideological fighters in Beijing and Washington, the unpleasant truth is that both China and the United States is likely to emerge from this crisis weakened,” — said recently the global struggle former Prime Minister Australia Kevin Rudd.
Natalia Portyakova
