US-China Relations - 32. page

Well-known Chinese news site Sina (NASDAQ: SINA) recently reported that, on July 23, the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented in a press conference, due to the “new legal landscape,” on the U.S. Biden Administration’s latest official risk advisory for businesses, investors, individuals and academic institutions operating in Hong Kong. The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control of the U.S. Department of the Treasury has included seven deputy directors of the Chinese Liaison Office in Hong Kong on the “Specially Designated Nationals List” and imposed financial sanctions. China firmly opposes this and strongly condemns it. Based on China’s Anti-Foreign Sanctions Act, China decided to adopt a reciprocal countermeasure and sanction the following: former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) Chairman Caroline Bartholomew, former office director of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) Jonathan Stilworth, DoYun Kim from the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), Adam King, Authorized representative of the American International Republican Institute (IRI) in Hong Kong, Director of the China Department of Human Rights Watch Sophie Richardson, and the Hong Kong Democracy Committee (HKDC).

Radio France International (RFI) Chinese Edition later reported that the White House responded on the same day that the U.S. will not be afraid of this and will still strive to use all relevant sanction tools going forward.

Sources:
Sina, July 23, 2021
https://news.sina.com.cn/c/2021-07-23/doc-ikqcfnca8659876.shtml
RFI Chinese, July 23, 2021
https://bit.ly/3eQrlSy

The Chinese official media Global Times recently launched an online petition urging the international community to investigate whether the U.S. military’s Fort Detrick Biological Laboratory was the origin of the new coronavirus.

As of July 26, the petition was alive and the number of signatures has been growing over time. The signatories below the signature counter did not post any name, but simply stated that a “netizen” from somewhere in China had participated. The increase in the number of signatures is considerable. According to Global Times, the signatures began on July 17 and by July 22 more than 5 million people had signed. Just one day later, by midnight Beijing time on July 23, the number of signatures jumped to more than 9.4 million. By July 26, the number was over 13.7 million.

The petition is in response to an open letter allegedly signed by Chinese netizens in early June of this year calling for a WHO investigation into the U.S. Fort Detrick Biological Laboratory.

The letter claimed that the U.S. military’s Fort Detrick Biological Laboratory had a leak in the fall of 2019 on the eve of the Covid-19 outbreak, and that the U.S. side covered up the details in the interest of national security. This has led to concerns about whether the event was related to the coronavirus and to calls for a WHO investigation.

In fact, Fort Detrick has been a thorn in the side of Chinese officials since March of last year. Chinese Ambassador to the United States Cui Tiankai said last March that the notion that the virus came from a U.S. lab was crazy. However, according to the website of Foreign Policy magazine, from early March last year until now, Chinese officials and state media have mentioned the Fort Detrick lab more than four hundred times in articles, videos, tweets and press conferences and have repeatedly asked the lab to open up for China to send its staff to investigate.

The narrative linking Fort Detrick to the coronavirus in these conversations is that U.S. Army soldier Maatje Benassi brought the virus from the Fort Detrick to Wuhan in October 2019 while he was there for the World Military Games.

Richard H. Ebright, professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Rutgers University, denounced this claim as utter nonsense, telling Radio Free Asia that the analysis of the genome sequence of the coronavirus extracted from humans indicates that this virus infected human bodies in or near Wuhan sometime around September to November 2019.

According to public information, the Fort Detrick Biological Laboratory, which is part of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), did receive a directive from the Centers for Disease Control to close in 2019. The New York Times reported that a USAMRIID spokesperson said at the time that the closure was primarily due to a lack of proper disinfection of the lab, but that there was no threat that would endanger public safety, nor was there any leakage of hazardous materials that would cause injury to anyone.

Source: Radio Free Asia, July 22, 2021
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/huanjing/wy-07222021111401.html

Days before meeting with U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi repeatedly named and criticized the United States.

“The U.S. has always wanted to use its strength to exert pressure on other countries, conveying the idea that it is superior. But I want to tell the U.S. side clearly that there has never been any superior country in this world, nor should there be a superior country. China will not accept any country claiming to be superior.” Wang said this at a press event on July 24, when meeting with the Pakistan Foreign Minister in Chengdu, Sichuan.

Wang continued, “If the United States has not yet learned how to deal with other countries on an equal footing, it is our responsibility, along with the international community, to give the United States this lesson.”

On July 25, Wang met with the Foreign Minister of Finland in Chengdu, Sichuan. When asked by a reporter, Wang said, “The U.S. side is hyping up the lab leak theory with the presumption of guilt. Its purpose is to shift the blame for its own ineffectiveness in fighting the epidemic and to achieve the political goal of discrediting and suppressing other countries. … It is necessary to write this ugly page in the history of the human race’s fight against the epidemic.”

“We should trace the original source of not only the new coronavirus, but also the political virus.” He criticized the WHO’s second stage of Covid-19 origin probe as a deviation from the requirements of the 73rd WHO General Assembly resolution. “It seems that the U.S. has returned to the WHO with the intention of not joining the international fight against the epidemic but of continuing to use the platform to spread political viruses.”

Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman arrived in Tianjin on July 25 and was scheduled to meet with Wang Yi on Monday July 26. She was also to meet with China’s Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng, who oversees U.S.-China relations.

Source: Central News Agency, July 26, 2021
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202107260015.aspx

The U.S. government issued a Hong Kong Business Warning for the first time, reminding U.S. companies to be alert to the risks caused by the implementation of the Hong Kong National Security Act. Washington also announced sanctions against seven deputy directors of the Hong Kong Central Liaison Office. Beijing and Hong Kong then quickly hit back.

On July 16, the .US. Departments of State, Treasury, Commerce, and Homeland Security jointly issued a Hong Kong business advisory, “Risks and Considerations for Businesses Operating in Hong Kong.” It warned the U.S. companies operating in Hong Kong that they are subject to the laws of Hong Kong, including the National Security Law. So far, some foreign nationals have been arrested, including one U.S. citizen.

The advisory reminded companies that those operating in Hong Kong could “face the risks associated with electronic surveillance without warrants and the surrender of data to the authorities.” It stated that, “individuals and entities should be aware of the potential consequences of certain types of engagement with sanctioned individuals or entities” and warned them that, “Businesses operating in Hong Kong may face heightened risks and uncertainty related to retaliation from the PRC (People’s Republic of China) against companies that comply with sanctions imposed by the United States and other countries, including through enforcement of the Countering Foreign Sanctions Law.”

At the same time, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions against the seven deputy directors of the Liaison Office in Hong Kong and added them to the Treasury’s “Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List.” Earlier, the U.S. had announced sanctions against 11 Chinese and Hong Kong officials, including Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and Liaison Office Director Luo Huining, for damaging Hong Kong’s autonomy. The assets of those on the sanctions list have been frozen.

In the statement that Secretary of State Blinken issued, he stated, “I am committed to continuing to work with Congress and our allies and partners around the world to stand with the people in Hong Kong against [China’s] egregious policies and actions.  …  We will continue to call on the PRC to abide by its international obligations and commitments; to cease its dismantling of Hong Kong’s democratic institutions, autonomy, and rule of law; to release immediately and drop all charges against individuals unjustly detained in Hong Kong; and to respect the human rights of all individuals in Hong Kong.”

The Liaison Office of the Central Committee of Hong Kong countered with a statement calling the U.S. sanctions a piece of wastepaper and an attempt to disrupt Hong Kong’s economic growth after its political failure. The statement also emphasized: “The sanctions imposed by the United States on our officials have no meaning other than making us despise those politicians and encourage us to fight for our national interests.”

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Office in Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Regional Government also issued statements calling the sanctions bully’ behavior which violates international laws and interferes with China’s domestic affairs. Chinese official media followed suit and published a series of anti-U.S. commentaries.

Source: Deutsche Welle, July 17, 2021
https://www.dw.com/zh/美国制裁中联办官员-中方废纸一张/a-58297941

Xinhua reported on July 6 that the U.S. government rejected more than 500 Chinese science and engineering graduate students’ visa applications. It appears that the Biden administration intends to continue the erroneous policy of suppressing Chinese graduate students and scholars in science and engineering. The US embassy and consulates refused the visa applications on the grounds that they did not comply with “the US Immigration and Nationality Act, Article 212f, and Presidential Decree No. 10043.” All these students planned to study for a doctoral or master’s degree in the U.S. Most of them have a major in electronic engineering, computer science, machinery, chemistry, materials science, biomedicine and other science and engineering fields. Their universities include Harvard, Yale, UC Berkeley, MIT, Johns Hopkins, and others. Most of the applications were submitted after the Biden Administration came to power. According to statistics, approximately 3,000 to 5,000 Chinese graduate students and a large number of scholars in science and engineering will be affected. U.S. President Trump signed Presidential Decree No. 10043 on May 29, 2020.

Source: Xinhua, July 6, 2021
http://www.xinhuanet.com/world/2021-07/06/c_1211229231.htm