The European Parliament (EP) on Thursday adopted a resolution appealing to sanctions on officials of both Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland as well as a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden extended a national emergency designation with respect to Hong Kong put in place by former president Donald Trump in 2020. These two developments together mark the blind arrogance and paranoia against China among some people in the US and Europe. The EP has a collection of the most radical and extreme ideologies in Western society, providing a stage for various political vices attempting to draw wide attention. At the EP, regardless of facts, responsibility and consequences, those anti-China forces just attempt to achieve the loudest voice and biggest impact. For this reason, the gap between the resolution of the EP and actual policy of the EU is larger than the manner toward China between the parliament and the government of its member states. This time, the EP has largely copied the list of Hong Kong officials sanctioned by the US and even went ahead of the US in terms of the issue of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. Given their actual relations with China, European countries are unlikely to carry out the resolution of the EP. Some media outlets said the bill was made to ensure the European Commission understands the sentiments of the EP. However, it cannot underestimate the destructive effect of the EP to China-Europe relations. The EP in May passed a resolution to freeze ratification of the China-EU Comprehensive Agreement on Investment, hindering the normal process of the deal. This proves that their efforts are not that futile. China-EU relations are on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, rather than China unilaterally seeking help from Europe as those EP members imagine. If the EU sanctions officials from Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, in return, it will receive China’s retaliation. The Winter Olympic Games belong to the world, and China is only the host. Beijing will not exchange China’s core interests for some European forces’ support of the Winter Olympic Games. Those people overestimate their value to the Winter Olympic Games and their value to China. The Biden administration has continued the suppression against Hong Kong adopted by the previous administration. This means the series of countermeasures China has taken will continue to be effective. Hong Kong affairs are one of the fields where tensions between China and the US are highest. The US has played almost all cards of sanctions in terms of Hong Kong affairs. As a result, its deterrence has collapsed. The Biden administration repeating the old path of the Trump administration means it will repeat the latter’s failure.
–The Daily Mail-Global Times News Exchange Item
