Sanctions act tries to make China a scapegoat for US' own problems in the Middle East: China Daily editorial

It was outrageous and against international trade rules for the US House of Representatives to have passed the "Iran-China Energy Sanctions Act" on Monday. The act, if approved by the Senate, will expand sanctions to cover Chinese financial institutions that purchase petroleum products from Iran.

Congressman Josh Gottheimer, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, said about the act that after Iran's "unprecedented" attack on Israel and as its "regime of terror" deepens ties with China, "we are reminded that they cannot be trusted". He claimed that Iran has directly, or through its "terrorist proxies, killed hundreds of Americans and attacked our bases and our allies in the region". He said all of this is why the US must cut off sources of funding for Iran.

This is how a US politician perceives the world, and this is how US politicians believe that the US should trample on the legitimate interests of other countries.

His words display the typical arrogance of those in Congress and their longstanding belief that the US is qualified to dictate to other countries what they can or cannot do.

Their haughtiness and self-conceit mean they have no qualms about trying to halt the normal trade of other countries.

The US' love of sanctions is symptomatic of its authoritarianism that denies other nations' democratic rights. The US' unjust and high-handed sanctions, along with its unilateralism and trade protectionism, do nothing to bring an end to a crisis. They only aggravate the situation and cause greater hardships for people.

The act, if passed into law and enforced, could result in an increase of as much as 20 cents per gallon on gasoline prices, consulting firm ClearView Energy Partners said in a note to clients on Monday.

China's purchase of petroleum and related products from Iran is within the framework of international law, causing no harm to any third country. China has the right to buy any product from any country and so do other countries. It is not for the US to say who can do business with whom.

It is the war the US launched against Iraq in 2003 that has compounded the already complicated situation in the Middle East. It is its withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran in 2018 that has led to the deterioration of the situation in that part of the world.

The US' problems in the Middle East are of its own making. But instead of reflecting on the US' own problematic policies and mending their ways, politicians in Washington are trying to make China the scapegoat for their wrongdoing.

If the sanctions come, China will have to counteract. It will be world trade and the global economy that suffers from the hubris of US politicians.