Just as the U.S. and Chinese diplomatic heavyweights meeting in Alaska came to an end, the European Union and China are caught in a sanctions battle between the giants, only to be tightly followed by China’s propaganda machine adding fuel to fire, igniting public rage and boycotting a dozen fashion and sportswear names of Western clothing retailers for smearing Xinjiang cotton. “Earning big profits in China but attacking the country with lies at the same time. Wishful thinking!” The scenes unraveled seamlessly one after another. Everything seems to be happening at full speed!

Recently, Beijing has been increasingly assertive with foreign countries. In addition to locking horns with the U.S., China suddenly put former Canadian diplomat Michael Kovrig on trial on spying charges; UK ambassador to China Caroline Wilson was summoned by the Chinese Foreign Ministry after she wrote an article saying that “international media criticism of Chinese authorities is not China-hating,” while the Chinese ambassador to the UK posted a lengthy statement expressing “strong dissatisfaction” with BBC’s recent coverage of China; Beijing has continued to sanction Australian goods and ignored Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne’s request for talks; China passed the Coast Guard Law, which explicitly empowers its coast guard to open fire on foreign vessels as necessary to stop or prevent threats from other vessels and personnel, yet Chinese coast guard ships have already entered the waters of Diaoyu/Senkaku islands nine times this year, thus straining relations with Japan...A greater confrontation is still ahead.

On Monday, the European Union announced sanctions against four senior officials in Xinjiang, as well as the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Public Security Bureau (XPCC). China immediately hit back with retaliatory sanctions against 10 EU parliamentarians and scholars, along with four EU entities. China’s tit-for-tat sanctions list against the EU seemed to have been well prepared in advance, just waiting to pounce upon the EU’s announcement in a show of no hesitation to reciprocate but the results may have backfired. The European Parliament announced the temporary suspension of the EU–China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI), and many Members of Parliament have stated that they will not ratify the agreement. This investment agreement has been under negotiation since 2014 and remained in a stalemate until the end of last year when Germany assumed the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union and it was German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s turn to lead EU affairs. At the time, the Chinese side suddenly made a number of significant concessions to facilitate the process that will greatly help European multinationals compete with U.S. consortia for the Chinese market.

That agreement was then considered a diplomatic victory for Xi Jinping to thwart President Donald Trump’s containment and was wrongly perceived as Beijing’s success in bringing Europe on board to fight against the U.S. Now, this sweet diplomatic package has been torn up, and an anti-China hurricane is about to hit the European political scene. Compared to Americans, Europeans had more illusions about China in recent years, and there were still many pro-Beijing politicians in the political arena. However, after this sanctions firestorm, it is believed that people’s hostility toward the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will deepen, and the number of openly pro-China politicians will also sharply decrease. Not only has it become an impossible task to unite with Europe to counter the U.S., but it has actually pushed Europe into the U.S.-led anti-China camp.

As a matter of fact, after the EU’s sanctions list was announced, the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand also issued their own sanctions against China, seemingly establishing a united front against China. One of the sanctioned members of the European Parliament, Michael Gahler, pointed out that there are now more than 30 countries and regions that stand on the same camp. Eight EU member states, including Sweden, France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark and Lithuania, have successively summoned their Chinese ambassadors to express their dissatisfaction with the Chinese sanctions. The Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Qin Gang, in turn, also convened representatives of the EU and the British ambassador for two consecutive days to voice China’s discontent. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying even taunted that the U.S. and other Five Eyes Alliance countries coordinated and “acted like they were about to start a group fight. Their acts are reminiscent of the Eight-Power Allied Forces...These countries are obviously wrong about the times. Today’s China is not what it was 120 years ago. The Chinese people are not to be trifled with. Once they are provoked to anger, things can get very tough.”

Back then, Empress Dowager Cixi issued a royal decree of declaration of war against all 11 of the then Great Powers, creating a tidal wave of anti-Western fury! Sure enough, the CCP official mouthpiece promptly singled out H&M, Nike, Adidas, Zara and other fashion or sportswear brands, accusing them of smearing China by taking a stand against cotton produced in Xinjiang. In no time, a huge wave of backlash against these brands was trending on the internet, with many Chinese netizens calling to boycott these Western apparel brands. At the same time, there were also people protesting outside the stores of H&M, Nike, Adidas and Zara in many Chinese cities and even preventing customers from entering. There were also netizens who torn up H&M clothes, burnt Nike trainers, trashed these foreign brand name sports shoes, etc. Dozens of domestic, Taiwan and Hong Kong celebrities released statements that they were severing ties with these brands, canceling cooperation or endorsement relationships. Those celebrities, athletes and sports teams that have not yet taken a stand will eventually have to do so. When it comes to patriotism, you do not have the right to not take a position, especially if you are a celebrity of any kind.

The patriots in Hong Kong will probably have to get in line and boycott these brands. They should also be prepared to burn their shoes, rip their clothes and chuck their pants. In the event that they do not own these brands at home, or if these clothes and shoes are too expensive to let go, they should find some and be ready to toss them into the flames. In addition, shopping centers and street-level shop owners should be prepared to break free from these brands and kick them out. Then the next round may be high-end watches, French wines, luxury cars and other well-known labels.

It will be useless even if these foreign brands kneel down and kowtow. This anti-Western campaign is likely to be all-encompassing and is tied to the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CCP as well as the sustainability of Xi Jinping. It is necessary to avenge the national disgrace. They have to demonstrate that this year of Xin Chou is not the same as the year of Xin Chou of 120 years ago when the Boxer bands murdered foreigners and besieged western embassies only to invoke the Eight-Power Allied Forces, and Cixi was forced to flee westward in haste. The Boxer Protocol, also known as the Xinchou Treaty, often regarded as the most humiliating and costliest of the Unequal Treaties, was finally signed later. And today, China is going to turn the table around and let the Eight-Nation Alliance’s brand-name companies flee to the west!

More importantly, nowadays, China is desperate to stimulate domestic demand and create internal circulation. With the huge amounts of domestic products that need to be sold urgently, there is no room for these rival companies to occupy the Chinese market.

(Poon Siu-to, veteran journalist)

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