China’s anti-sanctions law Another setback for relationships
Status: 16.06.2021 10:30 a.m.
With the anti-sanctions law, China has created an instrument against foreign companies. Anyone who adheres to EU or US penalties against Beijing faces retribution. The industry is unsettled. From Steffen Wurzel, ARD studio Shanghai Many foreign business representatives see the new anti-sanctions law as a further setback for the relationship between Europe and China. As usual, the European Chamber of Commerce, the largest lobbying association of foreign companies in the People’s Republic, spoke up. The law continues to politicize dealings with China, so the criticism. “Basically, it ranges from uncertainty to shock,” said Chamber President Jörg Wuttke, describing the reactions of the member companies.
“Sovereignty inviolable”
With the new anti-sanctions law, the communist leadership in Beijing can punish foreign companies in the future; For example, if these sanctions follow, for example, the EU or the USA, which are directed against human rights violations in China. This could affect the textile industry, for example: If the EU should decide to sanction cotton companies from the Xinjiang region because there are strong indications of forced labor there, then China’s leadership could say the other way around to foreign textile and sporting goods manufacturers: You are only allowed to continue in China Do business if you specifically use Xinjiang cotton.
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“With this law, China shows that the sovereignty, the dignity, the core interests and the development interests of the People’s Republic are inviolable”, the constitutional lawyer Li Qingming of the State Chinese Academy for Social Studies defended the measure on the television channel CCTV. The state defends all of this. “We are resolutely opposed to the hegemonic striving and power politics of the West.”
Legal security for the government
Foreign observers in China criticized the fact that the law leaves much in the dark. The whole thing is “nebulous,” said a European diplomat ARD . It is clear, however, that the anti-sanctions law will not change much in the matter. Because the People’s Republic is not a constitutional state, and even without a legal basis, the communist leadership has repeatedly punished foreign companies and even entire states in the past. With the new law, however, the government can now deal with uncomfortable foreign actors in a supposedly legally secure manner.
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“Text kept very vague”
The President of the European Chamber of Commerce, Wuttke, called the law a new “toolkit” for the government. “You can worry when you see the text. The text is – typically Chinese – very vague. So you could interpret everything into it,” he said. The draft law, which the members only saw as a finished law, includes very large circles. Even family members and subcontractors could be punished.
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The passing of the anti-sanctions law has created a lot of uncertainty among foreign companies in China. But there are also other voices. The head of a German middle class center in Kunshan near Shanghai said the ARD : Many German companies with which he has to do take note of such news calmly. According to the motto: The decisions of the state leadership in Beijing cannot be changed anyway.
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