Sanctions both farewell gift and reminder

The timing of the sanctions China imposed on 28 former Donald Trump administration officials, including Mike Pompeo, who was secretary of state, minutes after President Joe Biden took office on Wednesday may have caught people by surprise, but they are predictable in their content.

The sanctions, as promised, are a response in kind. They prohibit the individuals named and their immediate family members from entering the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, and any companies and institutions associated with them from doing any business with China.

That is a reciprocal move in response to the baseless sanctions that the former US administration imposed on Chinese officials, including some in Hong Kong. It is a targeted move as these former US administration officials have all gravely interfered in China’s internal affairs, undermined China’s interests and seriously disrupted Sino-US relations.

By announcing the sanctions at that moment, Beijing not only showed it was exercising restraint so that relations would not deteriorate further. It also conveyed the message that respecting China’s sovereignty and core national interests is the prerequisite for the new administration to put SinoUS ties back on the right track.

Former national security advisor John Bolton, one of the 28 people sanctioned, said being sanctioned was “great news”. But by taking pride in his dirty career record in dealing with China, which has brazenly violated international laws and norms, he only drew attention to the lack of political savvy that defines the China hawks, whose ideological compass, is thoroughly outdated and whose world view reeks of gunpowder.

Although President Biden did not mention China once in his inauguration speech, it should be noted that some senior officials in his administration have recently expressed hostility toward China. Indeed, an anti-China mentality has become entrenched in Washington thanks to the former administration’s willingness to stoop to new lows in its attempts to throw dirt at Beijing.

In this light, the sanctions can be taken as a wellearned farewell gift to the former administration, as it has demonstrated how much damage clinging to US exceptionalism can do to bilateral relations. They are also a reminder to the new administration of what not to do.

China pursues a consistent US policy based on the principles of non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and mutually beneficial cooperation. It is now up to the new administration in Washington to lay its mark on what are widely perceived to be the most important bilateral ties in the world by doing the same.