China tests US with sanctions on Trumpist gang

ABOUT 10 minutes after Joe Biden was sworn in as president of the United States — while he was still giving his inaugural address, as a matter of fact — the Foreign Ministry of China announced the imposition of sanctions on 28 officials of the freshly unemployed Trump administration. This move, the diplomatic equivalent of a rival punching the palm of his own hand and then pointing at his opponent, has largely been dismissed as irrelevant and amusing, but might actually have some uncomfortable consequences.

The statement from the Foreign Ministry website (translated from Mandarin) read, “In the past few years, some anti-China politicians in the United States, out of their own political self-interest and prejudice and hatred towards China, have planned and promoted a series of crazy actions in disregard of the interests of the Chinese and American peoples, seriously interfering in China’s internal affairs and harming China’s interests. It hurt the feelings of the Chinese people and severely damaged Sino-US relations. The determination of the Chinese government to defend national sovereignty, security and development interests is unwavering. China has decided to impose sanctions on 28 people who have seriously violated China’s sovereignty and are primarily responsible for China-related issues.”