On February 16, China and the United States held a high-level foreign affairs meeting at the Munich Security Conference. During the talks, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made it clear to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that he demanded that the US side lift illegal unilateral sanctions on Chinese companies and individuals so as not to undermine China's legitimate development rights and interests. However, in the past week, the US side seems to have ignored China's demands.
Not long ago, the U.S. Treasury Department issued its latest sanctions announcement, saying that in order to commemorate the 2nd anniversary of the outbreak of the war in Ukraine and the death of Russian opposition leader Navalny, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control decided to impose sanctions on more than 500 targets around the world, including at least six companies from China.
According to the list released by the US side, three of the six companies are located in Guangzhou, two in Shenzhen, and one in Jiangxi, and they are engaged in electronics manufacturing, science and technology, and import and export business. The reason for the US sanctions on these companies is said to be because they are suspected of supplying electronic components, drone products and technologies to Russia.
This follows the European Union's sanctions on more than 2,000 Russian targets on similar grounds, including three Chinese companies for the first time. When Europe and the United States imposed sanctions on Russia at the same time, they also included Chinese companies, which is intended to warn China and urge China to keep a certain distance from Russia, thereby weakening Russia's war potential and achieving the goal of driving a wedge between China and Russia.
In addition, Europe and the United States are aware of China's opposition to the abuse of unilateral sanctions, and still take this action, which is also aimed at demonstrating the West's dominance of the world political, economic and financial order. At the same time, it also shows that despite China's recent frequent diplomatic activities with the United States and Europe, the West is still pursuing its desire to dominate the world order, and the trend of sentiment over rationality in relations with China has not changed significantly.
Any form of sanctions should be decided upon after full discussion within the framework of multilateral organizations. Although the unilateral and generalized sanctions taken by Europe and the United States this time are under the banner of containing war, they are still manifestations of long-arm jurisdiction and unilateralism. Therefore, it is foreseeable that Sino-Western relations will remain in a stage where competition outweighs cooperation for a long time to come. This point deserves our deep reflection and vigilance.