Insiders suspect motive behind flight suspension

Trump administration holds US carriers, Chinese students ‘hostage’

The US government’s latest attack on China in the form of banning Chinese airlines from continuing the already limited passenger air services between the two countries has been motivated by US politics pandering to anti-China forces, Chinese insiders and analysts said on Friday.

It is the Chinese government that initially made full preparations to ease the restrictions, driven by the demand of Chinese nationals to return home, and also the work and production resumption needs.

Industry insiders suspect that the US issued a flight suspension, which came ahead of China’s adjustment policy only half a day, as a political operation intended to create the illusion of “the US forcing China to follow suit.”

“The new rules the CAAC released on Thursday to ease flight restrictions were prepared for days, which was not forced out by Washington’s flight ban, although it was only a matter of hours,” Zheng Hongfeng, CEO of industry information provider VariFlight told the Global Times on Friday. He cited the details in the CAAC (Civil Aviation Administration of China) statement, such as starting Monday as many as 64 international flights could be added, bringing total international arrivals to about 33,000 a week.

As early as in May, Li Jian, deputy head of

China’s aviation authority, said it would consi sider increasing international flights as long as im imported virus risks are under control.

The US government is used to bluffing and h has resorted to its bullying tactics, while China al always sticks to its own plan, and the move fits in into the Trump administration’s approach to all is issues: always impose sanctions first, Shen Yi, a p professor at the School of International Relati tions and Public Affairs of Fudan University, told th the Global Times.

Washington political trap

As early as late January, US President Donald T Trump suspended flights from the US to China, fo followed by a ban on flights from 26 European co countries in March and later adding the UK and Ir Ireland to the list.

“US airlines are pissed by the suspension, as th the Atlantic routes are the biggest part of the carri r riers’ income,” an insider surnamed Li said.

The three major airlines employ around 10 100,000 people, and related industries employ ev even more. Because aviation hubs are mostly in p pro-Democrat areas, they are particularly importa tant to the Democratic Party, which places the ai airlines at the heart of the struggle between the tw two parties, experts said.

Meanwhile, US businesses such as Apple and Qualcomm are also taking a hit from the flight su suspensions, as they have become the driving fo force behind resuming flights to China.

However, companies with business in China ar are not in line with Trump’s strategy of bringing manufacturing back to the US, which “makes Trump unhappy again,” Li said.

It also seems that Chinese students in the U US have also become victims of the US governm ment’s policy.

Several Chinese students studying in the US to told the Global Times they are worried that they w will face growing difficulty returning to China du due to the upcoming restrictions on Chinese ai airlines.

“It’s like the US is putting a knife to the neck of Chinese students abroad, saying ‘unless you op open the door, I will not let you back home,’ an and the US forgets that they were the first to b ban flights from China, and if it does not fully co control the virus, it would worsen the situation,” S Shen said.

By late Thursday, the virus had killed more th than 108,000 people in the US and infected at le least 1.8 million, according to Johns Hopkins U University, and CNN reported that officials fear th those numbers will rise following the protests.

The biggest difference between China and th the US is that after the epidemic’s outbreak, the C Chinese government’s attitude was simple and pu pure – to control the virus and return to normal li life. But the Trump administration mixed too many other factors from the beginning, and put Trump’s reelection first, Shen said.

“The Trump administration is selfish and ar arrogant, and its policy does not serve US interes ests, but Trump’s. Trump has kidnapped the US an and does whatever he wants,” Shen said.

China’s new policy on easing restrictions h has a higher requirement on local virus control in the country, and it also poses a challenge to th the US as the country faces a rising number of ca cases. The US should control the virus first, then ta talk about flight resumptions, analysts noted.