onsdag 9. juni 2021

China made a ‘huge strategic blunder’ in retaliating against Europe, former U.S. negotiator says

China made a “huge strategic blunder” when it retaliated against Europe by imposing sanctions on EU politicians, former top White House trade negotiator Clete Willems said. Beijing’s actions killed a major investment agreement between the European Union and China, and the deal is “off the table now,” Willems told CNBC on Monday. In March, China imposed sanctions on 10 European Union politicians and four other entities. They came as an immediate retaliation for sanctions the EU imposed on China for “arbitrary detentions” of members of an ethnic minority in China.

Xinjiang in northwestern China is home to a Muslim population known as the Uyghurs whom the United Nations and others have identified as a repressed ethnic group. Also in March, the United States, United Kingdom and Canada said China engages in “forced labour, mass detention in internment camps, forced sterilisations” and other abuses against Uyghurs.