White House calls China sanctions on Trump aides ‘unproductive’

The White House called last-minute Chinese sanctions on former Trump administration officials “unproductive,” saying they were an effort to sow partisan rancor as Joe Biden takes office.

“Imposing these sanctions on Inauguration Day is seemingly an attempt to play to partisan divides,” a National Security Council spokesperson said in a statement late Wednesday. “Americans of both parties should criticize this unproductive and cynical move. President Biden looks forward to working with leaders in both parties to position America to out-compete China.”

Beijing sanctioned former Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and other Trump officials just as Biden was being inaugurated, hitting back at the outgoing team while leaving open the possibility of warmer ties with their successors.

Also on the list of 28 people being sanctioned were former President Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien and his deputy Matt Pottinger, trade adviser Peter Navarro, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft, according to a statement issued Wednesday by China’s Foreign Ministry. They and their families will be restricted from entering China, Hong Kong or Macau, or doing business with China.

The officials listed were instrumental in shaping the Trump administration’s more confrontational stance toward China, which included a raft of sanctions and a declaration, on its final day, that the government had committed genocide in its Xinjiang region. Also on the list were former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and former National Security Adviser John Bolton.

This brings the number of U.S. officials sanctioned by China to at least 44, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, which is broadly on par with the tally of Chinese people sanctioned by Washington.

The officials “planned, promoted and executed a series of crazy moves which have gravely interfered in China’s internal affairs, undermined China’s interests, offended the Chinese people, and seriously disrupted China-U.S. relations,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The statement didn’t list all the people affected by the restrictions.

The move came after the Chinese Foreign Ministry had this week urged “mutual respect” with the incoming Biden administration after years of worsening tensions under Trump.

Still, Greg Gilligan, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said the new sanctions wouldn’t prevent Biden from trying to ease tensions with Beijing.

“The timing is unfortunate, given it’s the first day of the new administration,” he told Bloomberg TV. “However, it was also very clearly directed at the outgoing administration. So China’s saying, ‘We’re going to stand our ground.’ I don’t think it erases the possibility for a reset. I do think there’s been plenty of signals that suggest a reset is possible.”

‘Significant Challenge’

Although Biden and his team are unlikely to match the harsh rhetoric leveled by Pompeo and other Trump administration officials, they have indicated they aren’t ready to ease tensions as much as China’s leaders would want.

Retired General Lloyd Austin, Biden’s nominee for defense secretary, said in a written submission for his confirmation hearing on Tuesday that the new administration “will view China as our most serious global competitor and, from a defense perspective, the pacing threat in most areas.”

The same day, Biden’s pick for secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said at his hearing that China is “the most significant challenge of any nation state to the United States in terms of our interests, the interests of the American people.”

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But he said he saw some room for cooperation “when it is in our mutual interest.” Biden’s transition team has said it hopes to forge some agreement with China on climate change and nuclear arms control.

Those targeted by China’s sanctions on Wednesday are likely to wear the restrictions as a badge of honor. Pompeo, who railed against China in a string of tweets in recent days, may boast of his tough stance in a future political campaign.

“I’ve been sanctioned by the Communist Chinese government for ‘nasty behavior,”’ Bolton tweeted Wednesday. “Great news for an inauguration day! I accept this prestigious recognition of my unrelenting efforts to defend American freedom.”

It’s not the first time China has sanctioned top U.S. officials. In July, the country announced sanctions on Republican senators Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and other officials over what the foreign ministry said was interference in China’s internal affairs.