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Image source,Reuters
The time is approaching for the White House to change hands, but the Trump administration continues to increase its pressure on China.
The US State Department announced the termination of five US-China exchange programs on Friday (December 4) and stated that these programs are actually a tool for the Chinese government’s external propaganda. The United States also announced sanctions against officials and individuals who actively participated in the affairs of the United Front Labor Department of the CPC Central Committee and refused to apply for entry visas.
The five completed US-China exchange programs, including the “China Education Program for Policymakers”, the “US-China Friendship Program”, the “Leadership Exchange Program US-China “, the” US-China Trans-Pacific Exchange Program “and” Hong Kong Education and Culture Project “.
These plans are based on the United States Education and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961, which allows employees of the United States government to receive funds from foreign governments to travel.
US Secretary of State Pompeo said in a statement: “Today, the State Department ended five programs disguised as ‘cultural exchanges’ by China (PRC).” The statement noted that the five projects are funded by the Chinese communist government “as a soft power propaganda tool.”
On Thursday, President Trump issued regulations restricting the travel of Chinese Communist Party members and their family members to the United States, shortening the maximum validity of B1 / B2 visit visas for Chinese Communist Party members and their immediate family members. from 10 years to a month.
According to data from the Organization Department of the China Central Committee, at the end of 2019, the total number of members of the Communist Party of China was 91.914 million. Together with family members, this measure will affect hundreds of millions of Chinese visas to the United States. This has increased barriers to very low personnel exchanges between China and the US.
A day after the restraining order was issued, US Secretary of State Pompeo announced that officials from China’s United Front Department of Labor and those involved in United Front activities are prohibited from entering the United States.
“Protection of the United States” and “Malicious Influence”
A statement issued by the US State Department stated that the visa restriction for members of the Communist Party of China and their families is intended to protect the United States from the “malicious influence” of the Communist Party of China.
The so-called “malicious influence” said in the aforementioned statement that the Chinese Communist Party tried to influence Americans through propaganda, economic coercion and other illegal activities.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying later responded at a press conference that this was an act by some extreme anti-China forces in the United States who stepped up their political repression of China due to strong ideological bias. and a deeply ingrained Cold War mentality. China strongly opposes this.
The Chinese ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, continued to call on the two major powers of China and the United States to cooperate with China. On Friday, he publicly declared that without healthy and stable China-US relations, the “post-epidemic world” will not be stable and global governance will not be effective. So it is time to give this vital two-way relationship serious thought.
“For China, the choice is clear. The cooperation between China and the United States will benefit both, and the fight will harm both. Cooperation is the only right option for the two countries,” Cui Tiankai said.
On the same day that Cui Tiankai asked for cooperation, US Secretary of State Pompeo declared that compared to all CCP members, the United States will directly deny entry to those related to the work of China’s united front.
Pompeo said he has imposed visa restrictions on Chinese officials and others who use or threaten to use violence, private public information or other coercive methods to intimidate critics. But he did not mention a specific list.
The full name of the United Front Labor Department of the CPC Central Committee is the United Front Labor Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee. It was established in the 1930s in the context of the Anti-Japanese War, and in recent years, its functions have gradually become clearer, including overseas ethnic, religious and Chinese affairs.
Image source,EPA
Consolidate a solid image towards China
After the start of the trade war in 2018, being tough on China has gradually become the “main course” of Trump’s diplomacy. For example, when protests and demonstrations in Hong Kong were in full swing in 2019, Trump once kept his distance. He refused to speak.
Since then, Trump’s policy toward China has ushered in a round of change. After the epidemic broke out this year, Trump’s economic performance was quickly wiped out. Faced with the economic losses caused by the epidemic, the political dividends generated by the trade agreement with Beijing are not worth mentioning. Trump turned the conversation around and began to prominently criticize China as the culprit for the global spread of the virus and lobbied China in all areas, including the economy, diplomacy, science and technology, and human rights.
In the face of the epidemic and economic recession, tough and ideological confrontations against China have become important political assets for Trump.
Both Trump and Pompeo will resign after Biden is formally sworn in. Analysts believe that using the latest time to implement a tough policy toward China can consolidate its political positions and accumulate capital for a comeback four years later.
Trump hinted on Dec. 1 that he would regroup in the 2024 presidential election. He said he is trying to prevent Biden from being elected, “otherwise we’ll see you in 2024.”
A poll conducted by a US public opinion research institution last month showed that 66% of Republican voters supported Trump’s reelection in 2024. But in four years, Trump will be 78, similar to the president’s current age. elected Biden.
Pompeo soared for four years during Trump’s tenure. A member of the Kansas House of Representatives was promoted to Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and was promoted to Secretary of State in April 2018. During his 1 year and 8 months in office, he has frequently performed in the political arena in important diplomatic relations of the United States with China, North Korea and the Middle East.
The US media “Kansas City Star” once quoted sources as saying that Pompeo has contacted the “golden master” of the Republican Party, which may mean participating in the United States general election in 2024.
