US should not mistake restraint for weakness

Although the sanctions the United States has imposed on Chinese entities citing baseless "national security" concerns have had a substantial impact on China's high-tech research and industry, Beijing has shown restraint with its countermeasures, both in terms of their number and the damage they can do the US.

On Sunday, Beijing announced sanctions on five US defense-related companies — BAE Systems Land and Armaments, Alliant Techsystems Operations, AeroVironment, Viasat, and Data Link Solutions — in response to the US' recent unwarranted sanctions on several Chinese companies and individuals and its $300-million arms sales to the Taiwan island in December.

The US' arms sales to the Chinese island are in blatant violation of the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three China-US joint communiques that are the foundation for Sino-US ties, and the illegal unilateral sanctions the US has imposed on Chinese entities under various false pretexts seriously harm China's sovereignty and security interests.