Global Times columnists stress that the U.S. has chosen a bad time to pressure China over the situation in Hong Kong and threaten the Chinese authorities with sanctions.
The U.S. administration is unable to impose severe sanctions and increased pressure on other countries because of the pandemic. This opinion was expressed by analysts of the Chinese newspaper Global Times on Tuesday.
“The United States is plagued by a new coronavirus epidemic, and its real capacity to intervene in the affairs of other States has been significantly weakened. The White House claims it can impose sanctions on China [because of Hong Kong], but the tools and resources at its disposal are less significant than they were before the pandemic. In this way we see only a bluff on the American side”, – the editorial says.
According to the authors, as the role of developing countries in the world increases and new promising markets emerge, the West is gradually “losing its charm”.
“The whole world sees that Washington, based on its own geopolitical interests, is pitting other Western states against China and trying to create problems for it”, – they recall.
Newspaper columnists stress that the U.S. has chosen a bad time to pressure China over the situation in Hong Kong and threaten the Chinese authorities with sanctions in response to the resolution on the national security bill in this special administrative region being considered in Beijing at the session of the National People’s Congress (NPC, the supreme legislative body).
“China will take the lead in resolving the Hong Kong issue, and attempts by the United States to change public opinion [in its favor] will lead to nothing”, – the authors write.
On May 22, a resolution concerning the preparation of a law on national security in Hong Kong was included in the agenda of the WNSC session. The aim of the project is to create a special mechanism that will more effectively maintain public order in this special administrative region. On May 24, U.S. Assistant to the President for National Security Robert O’Brien said that Washington would impose sanctions against China if it considers that Hong Kong lacks a high degree of autonomy.
More than 1.66 million cases of coronavirus infection have been recorded in the USA, more than 98,000 people died, according to information from Johns Hopkins University, which carries out calculations based on federal and local authorities.