DM Monitoring
BEIJING: On Tuesday, the United States abruptly requested China to close its Consulate General in Houston, a unilateral political provocation against China among a series of escalation in its anti-China actions.
Over the recent years, the United States, citing groundless accusations, has been abusing its national power to attack certain Chinese companies, escalating prejudice and political suppression against Chinese media, and interfering in China’s internal affairs related to the South China Sea, Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
On March 7th, 2016, the U.S. Commerce Department added Chinese telecoms firm ZTE, along with some other Chinese companies on the Entity List under the Export Administration Regulations, making it difficult for ZTE to acquire U.S. products such as chips and software.
On Dec. 1, 2018, Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou was arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police at Vancouver International Airport at the request of the United States.
On May 15 and Aug. 19, 2019, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) included Huawei and its 114 affiliates in a blacklist of entities.
On Nov. 22, 2019, American Federal Communications Commission branded ZTE and Huawei as threats to national security, blocking U.S. service providers to purchase services and equipment from them using federal fund. On May 15, 2020, the DOC required foreign companies that use U.S. chipmaking equipment to obtain a U.S. license before supplying certain items to Huawei.
On July 14, 2020, under the pressure of Washington, the British government announced that buying new Huawei 5G equipment will be banned after Dec. 31, 2020 and all Huawei equipment will be removed from 5G networks by the end of 2027.
In December 2018, the United States demanded a Chinese television network CGTN’s U.S. office to register as “foreign agent,” and thus on the pretext refused journalist certificate applications from some Chinese reporters to the Congress.
In February 2020, the United States designated the U.S.-based offices of five Chinese media outlets as “foreign missions” and then in March placed a cap on the number of their staff, effectively expelling 60 Chinese journalists.
On June 22, the U.S. side added four more Chinese media organizations as “foreign missions.” On May 11, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced a rule to shorten visas for Chinese journalists to a 90-day period, with the option for extension. If an extension is not granted, the journalist involved would have to leave the United States immediately.
LIMITED ACCESS FOR CHINESE STUDENTS
On May 27, two Republican senators proposed a bill to bar Chinese students from getting visas to the United States for graduate or postgraduate studies in science, technology, engineering or mathematics.
On May 29, U.S. President Donald Trump issued a proclamation that bars entry to the United States for a number of Chinese students and visiting researchers.
INTERVENTION IN HONG KONG AFFAIRS
On Sept. 25, 2019, U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee and Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the so called Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act of 2019. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi even invited some anti-China disruptors to attend a press conference on the theme of the bill.
On Oct. 15 and Nov. 19, 2019, the U.S. House and the Senate passed the act in succession, requiring a yearly “certification… regarding whether Hong Kong continues to warrant treatment under particular treaties, international agreements, and United States laws,” and threatened to impose sanctions on the HKSAR government officials.
On Nov. 27, 2019, the United States signed the act into law, an attempt to institutionalize and normalize its intervention in Hong Kong affairs by means of domestic law, and to provide new chips for the use of the Hong Kong issue to contain China’s development.
On July 15, Trump signed the so-called “Hong Kong Autonomy Act” into law, threatening to impose sanctions on relevant personnel and entities of China, and issued an executive order to “begin the process of eliminating policy exemptions under United States law that give Hong Kong differential treatment in relation to China.”
PROVOCATIONS ON SOUTH CHINA SEA
Under the pretext of “maintaining stability” and “freedom of navigation” in the South China Sea, the United States has sent military vessels and aircraft to carry out frequent, close-in reconnaissance against China and conducted highly targeted military exercises.
While refusing to join the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the United States used the UNCLOS as an excuse and was busy “safeguarding rights” for other countries.
On June 2, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the United States has sent a letter to the UN Secretary-General to protest China’s “unlawful South China Sea maritime claims.”
On July 13, Pompeo said that many Chinese maritime claims over the South China Sea were illegitimate, and the United States urged relevant countries to oppose China’s maritime claims. He said the so-called award of the South China Sea arbitration was legally binding to both China and the Philippines, falsely claiming that the dotted line in the South China Sea was announced by China in 2009.
INTERVENTION IN TIBET, XINJIANG AFFAIRS
On Dec. 19, 2018, the United States signed the so-called “Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act of 2018” into law, smearing the opening-up policy of China’s Tibet and adopting a discriminatory visa policy towards related Chinese officials based on the so-called “reciprocal principle.”
On Jan. 28, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the so-called “Tibetan Policy and Support Act of 2019.”
On June 17, the United States signed the so-called “Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act of 2020” into law, criticising unfoundedly the human rights situation in Xinjiang and the counter-terrorism and de-radicalization measures undertaken there.
On July 9, the United States imposed sanctions on four Chinese officials in Xinjiang and the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau, saying that the officials and their immediate family members are “ineligible for entry into the United States,” with their assets in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. entities blocked and transactions involving any of their property or interests in the United States, or involving Americans, prohibited.
ARMS SALES TO TAIWAN
On July 9, 2019, the U.S. Department of State approved an arms sale to Taiwan. The arms package includes Stinger missiles and M1A2T Abrams tanks worth 2.2 billion U.S. dollars in total.
On Aug. 21, 2019, the U.S. Defense Department officially notified the U.S. Congress of the plan to sell 66 F-16 fighters and relevant equipment worth around 8 billion dollars to Taiwan and to provide support.
The Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative (TAIPEI) Act, signed by the United States into law on March 26, 2020, requires the U.S. State Department to report to Congress on steps taken to strengthen so-called Taiwan’s “diplomatic relations.”
On May 20, 2020, the U.S. State Department approved the sale of heavyweight torpedoes worth 180 million dollars to Taiwan.
On July 9, 2020, the U.S. State Department approved the recertification of Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missiles for Taiwan, at an estimated cost of 620 million dollars.
