US President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Thursday expanding a blacklist of Chinese enterprises, claiming “the threat posed by the military-industrial complex of the People’s Republic of China.” The list includes 59 firms such as Huawei, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, and China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. The executive order bans Americans from investing in them and will come into effect on August 2. The action is “one of the firmest to date as the Biden administration conducts a broad review of China policy,” the Wall Street Journal reported. Senior Chinese and US trade and economic officials just had two phone calls and resumed normal communication. When the international society hasn’t fully digested this news, Washington took action against China again. This has made us deeply aware of the complexity of China-US relations and Washington’s paranoid attitude to suppress China’s development. It has been repeatedly proven that whoever assumes office in the White House, the US’ China strategy is old wine in a new bottle. In some areas, the US crackdown on China will even get worse. It also has strengthened our recognition that the Chinese people must discard illusions, and become stronger. The blacklist is the 2.0 version of the one of Chinese firms with alleged ties to the Chinese military formulated during Donald Trump tenure. It must be pointed out that Trump put forward his blacklist after he lost the presidential race, which means it was an arbitrary and temporary action with strong political purposes. The list immediately caused chaos in the US after it was released. For instance, the New York Stock Exchange announced the delisting of three Chinese telecommunications companies, then reversed its decision, and then decided to delist them again. It’s not how a mature market player is supposed to behave. After winning a lawsuit, Xiaomi and Luokung Technology were removed from the blacklist. This also proved that the blacklist lacks legal support. The blacklist has caused nothing but harm. It should have been abolished after Washington stabilized its politics. But the Biden administration didn’t do so. Instead, it came up with a 2.0 version. First, the number of Chinese firms and entities on the list has increased from 48 to 59. Second, the new executive order not only bans American investors from engaging in the purchase of securities from those companies, but also from investing in funds that contain Chinese securities in their portfolios. Besides, the treasury department is responsible to carry out the order instead of the defense authorities. The new executive order also included Washington’s so-called concerns over “human rights abuses” and “democratic values.” In short, the new order is more operable but more vicious in nature. It seems the Biden administration lacks the courage and ability to shake off the shackles of populism toward China, nor does it have the will. Many enterprises on the list have no links with the military-industrial complex. Hyping the alleged links is only a gimmick of Washington. Washington has viewed normal economic activities between countries and enterprises from a non-economic perspective.
–The Daily Mail-Global Times News Exchange Item
