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| The Chinese flag, Oh Seong-hong flag (left) and the European flag. © AFP=News1 |
In connection with the European Union’s stepping up with the United States to impose sanctions on human rights violations of the Xinjiang Uighurs in China, it is predicted that the conflict between the two sides will not lead to economic sanctions.
In particular, from the perspective of China, it is observed that human rights and economic issues will be dealt with two-track as the EU fills the trade gap caused by the conflict with the United States.
On the 23rd (local time), Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post (SCMP) predicted this in an analysis article titled “China-EU relations: Why the Chinese government does not want investment transactions to deteriorate due to kidney sanctions.”
On the 22nd, the EU sanctioned four former and current officials and one organization involved in the suppression of the Uighurs in Xinjiang, China on the same day as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada.
In response, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded by announcing sanctions against 10 European officials and 4 organizations. In addition, the EU ambassador to China was invited to protest the EU’s sanctions against China.
However, China’s actions are not sanctions affecting economic relations such as trade, SCMP explained.
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| Videoconference on the conclusion of a comprehensive investment agreement between China and the European Union (EU) held in Brussels, Belgium on December 30 last year. © AFP=News1 |
Experts predict that China will not be able to impose economic sanctions on the EU.
Earlier, China and the EU agreed to conclude a Comprehensive Investment Agreement (CAI) in December of last year. China is fueled by news that the agreement could replace the US, which was one of the largest trading partners in the EU.
Tang Xiaoyang, a professor of international relations at Tsinghua University, stressed that the current sanctions on both sides include only certain political figures, but CAI emphasized that the two economic spheres are a related issue. He said that if both sides want to move in a reasonable direction, they will separate human rights and economic issues and deal with them in a two-track manner.
However, he was concerned that the EU would continue to follow the US line of public pressure. Earlier, the EU has been criticized for only watching while the US sanctions Chinese officials and bans the import of goods related to forced labor.
Zeng Jinghan, a professor of Chinese international studies at Lancaster University in the UK, also observed that China will not be able to retaliate against trade against the EU, saying, “There is no reason for China to endure deteriorating relations with the EU in a situation where US-China relations are in a downturn phase.”
China has recently sanctioned imports from Australia when relations with Australia deteriorated, but it is predicted that there will be no such sanctions “because the EU’s importance to China is much greater than that of Australia.”
It is also a problem that CAI has not yet come into effect.
The agreement of each member state and ratification by the EU Council and Parliament are required for the agreement to enter into force, but there are also voices that the EU should oppose CAI for human rights violations in China.
Professor Zeng said, “China will not impose economic sanctions on the EU because it can have a direct impact on the CAI signing.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chun-ying said at a regular briefing on the same day, when asked if the sanctions would affect CAI, “(this sanction) is unreasonable and will bring nothing. We must contribute to the development of bilateral relations.”
Even if it does not lead to direct economic sanctions, some analyzes say that the sanctions are leading to bad things for European companies that have already entered China.
Wang Huiyao, head of the’Globalization Think Tank’ under the Ministry of Unification and Propaganda in China, predicted this, saying, “The EU sanctions will slow the trade between China and the EU.”