Mutual Sanctions Between America and China Where To?
(Translated)
By Dr. Muhammad Jilani

Sino-American relations witnessed noticeable tension during Trump’s first term in office between 2018-2022, which appeared in various forms. The forms included Trump’s insistence on calling the Covid-19 virus a Chinese virus, accusing China of being behind the spread of the virus, and the increase in tension in the Taiwan Strait, which separates China from Taiwan, and extends about 110 km, as well as imposing high taxes on Chinese exports to the United States. Perhaps the most important tension between the two countries is what was stated by Chinese officials. It is that America wants to drag China into a cold war that China does not want. Chinese President Xi stated, as reported by Reuters on 15 November 2022, that the Cold War mentality must end. and that the world must never be dragged into a Cold War. The truth is that after America lost the Soviet Union as a partner that helps it extend its influence over regions of the world, it began to lose the most important reason for keeping Europe under its umbrella. Therefore, it began looking for another alternative that would enable it to continue its hegemony, especially over its staunchest friends in Europe.

When Trump took office for the first time in 2018, his top international priority was to bring China into the fold as an international player, that America could use to continue to extend its influence over the world, especially preventing Europe from escaping its hegemony. Europe had taken major steps towards moving away from American hegemony. Europe was making strides towards completing its unity through a unified constitution and a European security force, and moving away from NATO.

China has categorically refused to engage in any venture with the United States. It has seen with its own eyes what happened to the Soviet Union before, which collapsed without achieving anything, from America’s participation in the Cold War game.

It is not unlikely that one of the reasons for Trump’s removal from power, after his first presidency, was his inability to bring China into the international arena of conflict, in the form of a cold war. The Chinese president had expressed the broad outline of Chinese policy, as reported by Reuters, which is represented by progress in the fields of technology and global trade, away from political and military conflicts, especially in the Asia-Atlantic region and international relations.

During Biden’s presidency, America turned to Russia and dragged it into a long-term battle with Ukraine for various reasons, perhaps the most important of which is to confirm America’s dominance over Europe, strengthen NATO, and prevent Europe from leaving NATO, which French President Macron described, as waiting for death in the intensive care unit.

Now that Trump is back in office, he is likely to once again bring China into conflict, in a cold war that takes on more than commercial dimensions. China, knowing Trump’s policies and orientations, has realized that he will once again try to impose a cold war between America and China. There is no indication that China will respond this time to Trump’s attempt to bring it into a cold war.

Therefore, it is likely that the sanctions imposed by China on American military companies are merely preemptive steps, through which it confirms that the conflict between America and China is purely commercial, and has nothing to do with the struggle for international influence. Hence, China’s sanctions on American arms companies are linked to the reasons related to regional tensions between the two countries, specifically over the Taiwan issue. This certainly diverts attention from the international scenario, to the regional scenario, which is what China seeks to maintain, that is, regionally only.

China regards Taiwan as an inseparable part of its territory. It opposes any form of military or political support from any other country, including the United States. Therefore, US arms sales to Taiwan are considered a violation of Chinese sovereignty in its regional environment. However, tensions in the relationship between China and the United States remain limited to the Asia-Mediterranean region, and do not extend to a global scope. Each country uses different tools to influence the behavior of the other, and the economic sanctions are one of these tools. China’s recent sanctions on US companies are a response to US sanctions on Chinese companies, and the raising of taxes on Chinese exports. By imposing these sanctions, China seeks to send a clear message to America that any interference in China’s internal affairs will be met with a firm response.

The result is that the mutual imposition of sanctions between the two countries is part of the complex interactions that America will use, either to exert real pressure on China that will ultimately lead to its retreat from its advanced position globally, or to an agreement between the two countries that will have wide-ranging repercussions on the international order, in the form of a cold war that will increase America’s ability to preserve its interests, and dominance over its largest real competitors, within Europe.