On the morning of January 20, EST, President Trump left office and Biden was sworn in. Immediately afterwards, the Chinese Communist Party authorities issued a statement announcing sanctions against 28 Trump Administration officials, including U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Analysis suggests that Beijing‘s sanctions were a step too late, as the Chinese Communist Party feared that imposing them before the Trump administration left office would invite harsher U.S. sanctions and had to hold back until after they left.
President Trump and his wife left the White House early on Jan. 20 EST and flew to Joint Base Andrews for the departure ceremony before flying to Sea Lake Estates in Florida.
Later that day, Biden was inaugurated in Washington, D.C. Trump had previously announced that he would not attend Biden’s inauguration.
Just after the Trump administration left office, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced on January 21 (Beijing Time) sanctions against 28 members of the Trump administration, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro, National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, Assistant Secretary of State David Stilwell David Stilwell, Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Pottinger, health Secretary Alex Azar, Under Secretary of State Keith Krach, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft, and former National Security Adviser John Bolton, former White House Chief of Staff John Bolton, and former White House Secretary of State John Krach. Bolton, former White House chief strategic adviser Stephen Bannon, and others.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said it will ban these former officials and their immediate Family members from entering China and restrict companies associated with them from doing business in China.
An opinion piece in the French broadcaster said that Beijing chose “profound” timing to sanction Pompeo and others, coming after Biden was sworn in, in the early hours of the 21st Beijing time.
Pompeo said on January 19 that the Trump administration, after reviewing “exhaustive documentation of (the CCP’s) own policies, practices and atrocities in Xinjiang,” had concluded that the CCP authorities had committed “genocide and Crimes Against Humanity” by suppressing Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang.
The Chinese Communist Party’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement in the early hours of the 21st local time, saying: “In the past few years, some anti-China politicians in the United States have seriously damaged Sino-US relations out of their own political self-interest and biased hatred toward China …….
The analysis article questions, “the past few years”? Several years, why wait until now? Waiting until after Trump left the White House to return to his Sea Lake estate in Florida and his Secretary of State Pompeo left to become a civilian? Are Beijing’s sanctions a step too late?
The officials sanctioned for the Chinese side are not low ranking, and are all high ranking officials in the Trump administration. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Craft, who had a video call with Republic of China President Tsai Ing-wen a few days ago, is also on the list, and her term ended on the 20th.
The article analyzed that Beijing ordered sanctions against Pompeo and other key officials only after the Trump administration left office because it was afraid of incurring harsher sanctions if they were implemented before the Trump administration left office, and had to hold back until after they left.
Some netizens commented that the Trump administration, such as Pompeo and a cadre of officials have all left office, “Yesterday it was the Secretary of State, today it is a civilian, what is the use of sanctions? What’s the point of sanctioning officials from the previous administration? Some netizens asked, “Do they want to travel to China? Do they want to send their children to school in China? Do they have money in Chinese banks?
In contrast, the U.S. sanctions against Chinese Communist Party officials are very different, all are serving officials, including the 14 vice chairmen of the Chinese National People’s Congress who were sanctioned on December 7 last year, and senior officials such as Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Ching Yuet-ngor who were sanctioned on August 7 last year, respectively, Vice Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office Xia Baolong, Vice Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office Zhang Xiaoming, Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government, Luo Huining, Director of the State Security Office in Hong Kong Zheng Yanxiong, Secretary for Justice of Hong Kong Zheng Ruhua, Secretary for Security Lee Ka-chiu, current Commissioner of Police Tang Bing-keung, and other senior officials of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office.
Also sanctioned on January 15 were You Quan, Secretary of the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of the United Front Work Department of the CPC Central Committee, Sun Qingye, Deputy Director of the State Security Office in Hong Kong, Tam Yiu-chung, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC National People’s Congress, Choi Chin-pang, Director of the State Security Division of the Hong Kong Police Force, and two Assistant Directors of the State Security Division of the Hong Kong Police Force, Kan Kai-yan and Kong Hok-li. All of these people are high ranking officials in office, and as such, they more or less represent the Beijing regime.
Pompeo has been one of the most outspoken senior officials in the Trump administration to criticize the Chinese Communist Party. Before leaving office, he tweeted dozens of tweets that once again summarized the diplomatic achievements of the Trump administration in confronting the Chinese Communist Party.
Biden’s National Security Council spokeswoman said the Chinese regime’s move to sanction former Trump administration officials was “futile and ridiculous,” and she urged those in both parties to join in condemning the action.
Recent Comments