The European Union flags in front of EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Photo: Xinhua

The European Parliament (EP) on Thursday adopted a resolution appealing to sanctions on officials of both Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland as well as a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games. On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden extended a national emergency designation with respect to Hong Kong put in place by former president Donald Trump in 2020. These two developments together mark the blind arrogance and paranoia against China among some people in the US and Europe.

The EP has a collection of the most radical and extreme ideologies in Western society, providing a stage for various political vices attempting to draw wide attention. At the EP, regardless of facts, responsibility and consequences, those anti-China forces just attempt to achieve the loudest voice and biggest impact. For this reason, the gap between the resolution of the EP and actual policy of the EU is larger than the manner toward China between the parliament and the government of its member states.

This time, the EP has largely copied the list of Hong Kong officials sanctioned by the US and even went ahead of the US in terms of the issue of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. Given their actual relations with China, European countries are unlikely to carry out the resolution of the EP. Some media outlets said the bill was made to ensure the European Commission understands the sentiments of the EP.

However, it cannot underestimate the destructive effect of the EP to China-Europe relations. The EP in May passed a resolution to freeze ratification of the China-EU Comprehensive Agreement on Investment, hindering the normal process of the deal. This proves that their efforts are not that futile.

China-EU relations are on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, rather than China unilaterally seeking help from Europe as those EP members imagine. If the EU sanctions officials from Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, in return, it will receive China's retaliation. The Winter Olympic Games belong to the world, and China is only the host. Beijing will not exchange China's core interests for some European forces' support of the Winter Olympic Games. Those people overestimate their value to the Winter Olympic Games and their value to China.

The Biden administration has continued the suppression against Hong Kong adopted by the previous administration. This means the series of countermeasures China has taken will continue to be effective. Hong Kong affairs are one of the fields where tensions between China and the US are highest. The US has played almost all cards of sanctions in terms of Hong Kong affairs. As a result, its deterrence has collapsed. The Biden administration repeating the old path of the Trump administration means it will repeat the latter's failure. It will show that Biden's team is as incompetent as his predecessor, with a lack of imagination in a stalemate.

Issues related to Hong Kong and Xinjiang are China's internal affairs. China rejects the requests from the US and the West, and does not hesitate to engage in fierce confrontations with them in this regard. This shows governance toward Hong Kong and Xinjiang is consistent with the fundamental interests of local people as well as all Chinese people. China will not retreat. Some forces in the US and the West misread the era and fail to see the nature of the matter. They believe Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland need to be lectured. They have no idea how absurd their actual performance and situation is.

It has not been the age when the US and the West can act rampantly.  If Washington and Brussels insist on launching fierce confrontations with China in regard to issues of Hong Kong and Xinjiang, we are willing to accept the result of such confrontations. We are confident in our strengths and conditions and do not believe the pressure piled from the US and the West will have a big influence on China. All sanctions against Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland will receive relentless retaliation. The US and Europe will suffer the same losses as China from the conflict. We advise them to restrain themselves.