Topline
China has been subjected to mounting U.S. sanctions in recent years—and tensions between the two countries have escalated over the past week after the Biden Administration shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast, and reports show China aids Russia in its war with Ukraine despite sanctions.
US President Joe Biden speaks during a signing ceremony for the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.
Key Facts
Most of the recent sanctions against China began in 2018, when the Trump Administration banned U.S. agencies from using any systems, equipment and services from Huawei, a Chinese telecommunications giant, out of suspicion the company was aiding the Chinese government in its espionage activities.
In July 2020, Chinese officials were sanctioned by the U.S. under its Uyghur Human Rights Policy of 2020 for what it calls “gross violations of human rights” in the western region of Xinjiang, and barred entrance into the U.S. for named officials and their immediate families.
A month later, the U.S. imposed sanctions on then Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam and ten other Hong Kong officials for “undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy and restricting the freedom of expression or assembly of the citizens of Hong Kong” and later in December of 2020 would impose sanctions on the 14 vice chairpersons of the National People’s Congress of China for the same reasons.
In November 2020, former President Trump signed an executive order prohibiting all U.S. institutional and retail investors from investing or purchasing from Chinese companies the Department of Defense identified as “Communist Chinese military companies.”
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, sanctions against several businesses in China have been imposed, including Sinno Electronics in Shenzhen, for supplying Russian Military networks in September, and most recently against Spacety China for providing satellite imagery to the Wagner Group mercenaries.
In October 2022, the Biden Administration announced there would be limits on sales of new semiconductors to China in order to slow down the Chinese tech sector and is in talks to cut off Huawei from all its U.S. suppliers.
In December, sanctions were imposed on Chinese nationals and ten entities affiliated with the two in response to human rights abuses connected to what the U.S. calls illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
News Peg
The U.S. is considering more sanctions against Chinese surveillance companies following reports Iranian authorities have been relying on the technology to stomp out protests sparked over the last year following the death of a 22-year-old woman who was detained by Iranian morality police.
Key Background
Tensions between the U.S. and China began to sour when the Trump Administration took a hard economic stance against China and started a trade war in 2018. During Biden’s administration there has been no effort to settle tensions, with Biden trying to slow the growth of the Chinese tech sector. China has also been defiant of U.S. imposed sanctions on Russia as it continues to provide technology to the Russian military, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
Tangent
The U.S. is not the only country to impose sanctions against China. In 2021, the European Union announced it would impose sanctions on 11 Chinese individuals and four Chinese entities responsible for human rights violations across the globe. This is the second time the EU has issued a sanction to China—its second-largest trading partner—after the first sanction in 1989 following the Tiananmen Square protests when it raised an arms embargo against China which is still in effect to this day.
Further Readings
China Helping Russia’s War With Ukraine With Military Aid—Violating Sanctions—Reports Show (Forbes)
Biden Administration May Cut Off Huawei From U.S. Suppliers. Here’s The Backstory (Forbes)
U.S. Shoots Down Suspected Chinese Spy Balloon Over Atlantic (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonytellez/2023/02/08/here-are-all-the-us-sanctions-against-china/