Experts: Countermeasures justified

Pelosi’s trip ‘undermined basis of China-US cooperation’ in law enforcement, judiciary

China’s countermeasures against the United States in the law enforcement and judiciary sectors are justified, and the US should take full responsibility for damaging the foundation of bilateral cooperation in these sectors, experts and analysts said.

The Foreign Ministry announced eight countermeasures on Friday in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, which was made despite China’s strong opposition and serious representations over the trip.

The countermeasures include the suspension of bilateral cooperation on the repatriation of illegal immigrants and legal assistance in criminal matters and cooperation against transnational crimes and in the area of counternarcotics.

Huang Jin, deputy head of the China Law Society, said cooperation in those areas was established based on bilateral memorandums and does not involve international treaties and agreements.

“The establishment of the cooperation needed plenty of time and efforts from both sides in negotiation. Since the two sides have the will to cooperate, then both sides need to show their sincerity,” Huang said. “Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan undermined the basis of China-US cooperation in these areas, making it hard to carry on. It’s justified to suspend cooperation on the basis of safeguarding China’s national sovereignty.”

He said that China’s decision to suspend cooperation was made after weighing the matter carefully. Problems in drug trafficking, immigration, transnational crime and the judicial field are where the US needs more support from China.

“The US has always chosen to cooperate with us only in the areas they want to cooperate with. Now, we can take the initiative to suspend cooperation in the matters they want to cooperate with,” he said.

At the same time, these measures serve as a warning to other countries that want to maintain ties with China while following the US in inappropriate moves, he added.

The countermeasures are a justified reaction taken by the Chinese government against the gross interference by the US in China’s Taiwan affairs. The US caused serious damage to China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the measures implement a holistic approach to national security and firmly safeguard national security and core interests, said Chen Xiangyang, director of the Office of the Research Center for Overall National Security Outlook.

The countermeasures showed that China-US relations are deteriorating, and the blame lies entirely with the US side.

The behavior of the US includes Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan and her association with “Taiwan independence” forces, the US government’s repeated shirking of its responsibilities for Pelosi’s visit and even making accusations against China’s countermeasures and threatening China’s core interests, said Chen.

Given the inactive attitude of the US, two-way cooperation is limited in these sectors, so the impact of the suspended cooperation is limited on the Chinese side, he said.

Taking the anti-narcotic moves as an example, the suspension of China-US anti-drug cooperation could affect the fight against transnational drug crimes. It has a greater impact on the US, as its drug abuse problems are far more serious, he added.

China put the whole category of fentanyl substances under control in May 2019 as a measure to fight against drug crimes.

Instead, the US included the Institute of Forensic Science of China’s Ministry of Public Security and the National Narcotics Laboratory, which are both important institutions responsible for the detection and control of fentanyl substances, to its “entity list” for sanctions in May 2020.

Resuming cooperation will depend on how the US behaves on issues concerning China’s core interests such as the Taiwan question, and whether the US respects China’s national dignity and interests, Chen said.

In a clear demonstration of the Chinese mainland’s resolve to uphold its sovereignty over the island, the People’s Liberation Army announced on Sunday that it will continue its military drills around Taiwan that started on Thursday.

The secessionist-minded Tsai Ing-wen administration of the island has to swallow the bitter truth that a siege of the island by the PLA would quickly make any attempt at secession futile as the island depends on external sources for almost all its energy and nearly 70 percent of the grains it consumes.

Tsai, who had just been assured by visiting US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that the US will not “abandon” Taiwan last week, has shown that she has got the message, as she has continuously called on the US club to respond to the “provocations” from the mainland and “protect” Taiwan.

Calling on Japan to help, she directly tweeted a help-me message in Japanese. But such appeals have fallen on deaf ears. Which has only bankrupted her administration’s creditability among the Taiwan people, as it takes no real war to prove the Tsai administration’s long-term promise of the island being “protected” is far-fetched.

The USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier strike group is symbolically loitering far away from the island, while the PLA’s planes, vessels, drones and missiles are even visible with naked eyes from the island.

If the mainland took this opportunity to resolve the Taiwan question by force, the US would not be in a position to intervene.

The truth is, Taiwan is only a card the US is playing in its game against China, but it is an inalienable part of China. That strategic asymmetry means the strategic input the two sides are willing to dedicate to the Taiwan question is of different magnitudes.

Although the US has the strongest armed forces in the world, the mainland has already gained comparative military advantages over the US in the waters that are necessary for the reunification of the island with its motherland. Not to mention it has the moral high ground of safeguarding its own sovereignty and territorial integrity.

As such, Tsai has no choice but to try to cover up her inability to respond to the situation and her cheating of the Taiwan people by saying that “We are calm and will not act in haste. We are rational and will not act to provoke”.

Without repenting the losses her administration has caused the island by discarding the 1992 Consensus and the damage doing so has caused regional stability, Tsai’s statement that “We are doing our utmost to uphold the cross-Straits status quo, and we remain open to constructive dialogue (with Beijing)” has only laid bare her hypocrisy and incorrigibility.

The Tsai administration is in no way a victim of the escalation of tensions, but its initiator.