China’s visit to Belgrade on the 25th anniversary of the bombing of their embassy, when taken in conjunction with the cold shoulder given to the US Secretary of State on his arrival in China, should send a clear message to the US. Will the elites in Washington be clever enough to understand it is another question?

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in China and, upon getting off the plane, was greeted without the traditional red carpet. At the top of the hierarchy of officials who met Blinken was Chen Jining, head of the Shanghai Party Committee and a member of the Politburo. As Blinken is the US Secretary of State, protocol would require him to be met by at least the Chinese Foreign minister, Wang Yi, who was notable by his absence.

It is also notable that the United States, and Blinken in particular, have been issuing threats of sanctions against China for their close relationship with Russia, something that will definitely not endear them to their Chinese counterparts, who consider any sanctions not authorized by the UN Security Council to be illegal.

The US has been raising the specter of Chinese weapons supplies to Russia since the beginning of the Russian SMO in Ukraine, without any evidence of such. Now they appear to be taking aim at any and all Chinese exports under the blanket term “dual use”, which, given the track record of US sanctions, can mean pretty much anything.

The track record of such punitive sanctions is dire, especially when we look at the case of Iraq, where sanctions on “dual use” items sch medical supplies and food, are believed to have killed anywhere up to half a million children alone. Of course, the US tries to claim these numbers are “inflated” without any real evidence.

Further evidence of the real nature of such sanctions are evident in their application to Rhodesia, then its successor Zimbabwe, and well, as Iran and now Russia. They are a weapon of warfare, albeit economic, but one that is now starting to turn on its primary wielder.

Needless to say, I doubt the Chinese are going to change course any time soon, with the burgeoning trade with Russia, which in 2023 exceeded the target of US$200 billion by a massive US$ 40 billion, helping the Chinese economy to grow at a far better than expected rate, growing by 5.4% in the first........

© New Eastern Outlook