US Should Dismantle Discrimination and Political Walls against China

As China celebrated the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Snake, there was news from the other side of the Pacific that Chinese entities in the U.S. had suffered an injustice. The U.S. Department of State website announced on [Feb.] 11 that the U.S. had imposed sanctions on four Chinese entities and one individual, in accordance with the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act and its related government decrees.

At the beginning of Chinese New Year festivities, the U.S. put China on notice. Prior to this, the U.S. had not provided any compelling evidence, and had cited its domestic policies to sanction Chinese industries. This seriously violated the basic norms governing international relations and is unwarranted and unjustifiable.

This is far from the first time the U.S. has built up a wall of politics and discrimination against Chinese entities. Since the ‘90s of the last century, the U.S. government frequently utilized its domestic policies to criticize, blame and even “penalize” Chinese entities for a variety of reasons, since these entities did business with countries that the U.S. unilaterally sanctioned. What the U.S. attempted to do was to make its unilateral sanctions international. A similar situation also occurred last January when the U.S. decided to enforce sanctions against Zhuhai Zhen Rong Company in China. At that time, the Chinese entity did not violate the Security Council resolution. However, the U.S. made groundless accusations and treated the company unfairly.

China is not the only country that encounters the U.S.’ political wall. In addition to China, entities and individuals from Belarus, Iran, Sudan, Syria and Venezuela are on the sanction list. In fact, the U.S. is notorious for its evil behavior regarding extraterritorial rights. It is denounced for limiting normal business practices between foreign enterprises. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev once criticized the U.S.’ unilateral sanctions as “unacceptable” and “illegitimate.” Also, Lionel Jospin, former prime minister of France, said clearly: “American laws apply in the United States, not in France.”

China has always dedicated itself to maintaining the international nonproliferation system. It has established legal mechanisms in nonproliferation export controls that are aligned with international practice, and the results today are obvious to all. China’s nonproliferation policy is clear-cut, and its attitude is serious. It will continue fulfilling its international promises as always and strictly punish individuals and companies that engage in illegal activities according to law.

China and the U.S. share common interests on the issue of nonproliferation and have developed productive cooperation. The U.S., however, is very prone to making the mistake of using its domestic law to pose a threat to China, which undermines effective cooperation on nonproliferation based on a foundation of equality and mutual respect. Both China and the U.S. should be united and work together, deal with concrete cooperation and uphold the principle of “equality and mutual benefit,” though both must meet each other half way. For the healthy development of the China-U.S. relationship, both countries should get rid of the “political noise” and tear down all artificial discrimination and political walls as promptly as possible.