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From chips to sunflower seeds and dumplings, Washington's sanctions tear away its own fig-leaf_我的网站

一 |     By Wang Gaofei, Wu Xinru     (ECNS) -- Do sunflower seeds and dumplings pose a "threat" to U.S. national security?    The question may sound absurd, but the latest additions to the so-called Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) entity list have raised questions about the breadth of the U.S. trade restrictions on Chinese goods. 43 Chinese companies have been added to the list in a single day, bringing the total to 187. From advanced chips to food and everyday apparel, the overreaching "big stick" of U.S. sanctions has finally ripped away its own fig-leaf.    Is this move really driven by "human rights concerns" as the West claimed, or is it merely the result of political calculation by Washington's elites? What lies behind Washington's decision to escalate sanctions just one day after reaching a consensus?    Josef Gregory Mahoney, an American scholar and professor of Politics and International Relations at East China Normal University, was recently invited to join News Lounge of China News Network where he unpacked the real intentions of U.S. sanctions.        Sunflower seeds and dumplings land on the list: The absurdity and futility behind overreaching sanctions     "This move is logically indefensible," Mahoney stated bluntly, "These consumer goods firms have absolutely no connection to the so-called 'forced labor' allegations. Claims are entirely fabricated and lack any factual basis."     He argued that the U.S.' true intention is clear -- using groundless excuses to suppress China's competitive ordinary industries, disrupt the stability of China's industrial and supply chains, and protect the market share of its own traditional industries at the expense of Chinese enterprises' legitimate rights.         When even sunflower seeds and dumplings are labeled as "threats," the veteran scholar of China-U.S. relations emphasized, it exposes the absurdity and desperation behind Washington's containment strategy.     Turning to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) itself, he was even more incisive: "In the context of international law, the UFLPA has no legitimate legal foundation. In fact, it violates basic WTO rules and international trade norms."    He also added that the enforcement criteria of UFLPA are fatally flawed, adopting an unfair, rebuttable presumption that treats all related entities as guilty without evidence. When the law arbitrarily expands restrictions without clear, consistent judgment, it reverses the fundamental legal principle of presumption of innocence.     To suppress China, Washington has disregarded legal principles and fallen into logical contradictions, going to extraordinary lengths to achieve its ends.    Mahoney stressed: "It is blatant economic coercion, which could bring far-reaching harm," including erecting unnecessary trade barriers, hindering the flow of bilateral goods, and disrupting global industrial chain arrangements. Washington will hardly be able to bear the bitter fruits of these spillover effects.    Backtracking the very next day: Political calculation trumps economic and trade consensus     Just one day before the sanctions were announced, senior Chinese and U.S. officials in charge of economic and trade affairs had just held a video call, during which both sides stated that they were ready to jointly push for stable and sound China-U.S. economic and trade ties. Yet Washington brandished the big stick of sanctions almost immediately after those remarks. According to Mahoney, the timing is a deliberate and calculated provocation.     "The U.S. uses engagement and escalation as two sides of the same policy. It aims to create unilateral leverage before the follow-up consultations, break the mutual trust just built and force China into unnecessary concessions, completely violating the consensus reached by both parties."    The so-called "human rights concerns" appear to be a plausible pretext by the U.S. Yet in Mahoney's eyes, the sanction escalation stems almost entirely from domestic U.S. political calculation.     As the midterm elections draw near, demonstrating toughness on China remains one of the few tactics to unite Washington's bitterly-divided political establishment. The U.S. Congress has consistently demanded more aggressive UFLPA enforcement, and expanding the entity list helps insulate the White House from criticism by China Hawks.    Mahoney sees through this ploy: "It says nothing more than a convenient political fig leaf."    But just how much of Washington's shame can this fig leaf possibly cover?        Mahoney pointed directly to long-unresolved domestic issues in the United States, including sweatshop labor, prison labor and the abuse of migrant labor. Abroad, Washington has resorted to the aggression against Venezuela, against Iran, and supporting the genocide in Gaza.     Plagued by deep-seated domestic ills and a dismal human rights record, Washington, though, has long posed as a self-appointed "world's policeman," but its actions only serve to expose its deep hypocrisy.    Mahoney warned that, faced with election-driven pressures, continued festering of domestic governance problems in the U.S. could push Washington toward increasingly radical foreign policy stances. This sanction move, which represents a betrayal of previous consensus, has further eroded the already fragile China-U.S. mutual trust and introduced considerable uncertainties for subsequent high-level consultations.      Truth long obscured: Heavy barriers hide the reality     Western public discourse has long been awash with various false narratives targeting China, Xinjiang in particular.    "One of the interesting things we know about the cotton industry in Xinjiang is that there's no 'forced labor,' period. One of the things that is sort of interesting is that anyone can go to Xinjiang. It welcomes all visitors." Mahoney iterated in the interview.    During his recent visit to Xinjiang, Mahoney not only witnessed firsthand the highly-mechanized cotton-harvesting operations, but also toured local factories that produce harvesting equipment.    Inside the production workshops, he saw working teams led by female engineers, and members included Uyghurs who were there as professionals. Everyone performed their respective duties, actively contributing ideas and energy to production with great enthusiasm. Nowhere did he see "forced labor" or "slave labor" decried in Western media narratives.     Only by experiencing it firsthand and verifying through on-the-ground investigation can one get a glimpse of the truth. Mahoney noted that foreign visitors traveling to Urumqi, Karamay, and Kashgar are consistently struck by the region's stability, public order, and the well-being of its people.    Not everyone can afford, unfortunately, to travel to China, as Mahoney introduced, especially many Americans who find their position eroding economically because of the very policies that the current administration is putting into place. "They're kind of trapped in economic decline."    Some anti-China forces have long engaged in blame-shifting, seeking to externalize domestic governance conflicts and divert public discontent through media narratives. Trapped within pre-set information echo chambers, ordinary citizens lack the means to verify the truth by traveling to China. Exposed over time to one-sided, misleading and even false reports, they readily develop deep-seated negative stereotypes about China.    Encouragingly, the current media landscape is quietly shifting.    Mahoney noticed that a level of criticality has sort of entered the discussion now, which is creating an opening for people to take a more balanced look at China.    In recent years, China has rolled out multiple visa-exemption policies, and the popularity of travelling to China continues to surge. In his view, this offers an excellent opportunity for people overseas to break free from false narratives and see a multifaceted, authentic China. At the end of the interview, Mahoney shared his observations on the future development of China-U.S. relations.     In his view, how relations unfold between these two major powers has implications well beyond the two nations but also the global order.     Mahoney explained how Europe, faced with persistently high risks of deindustrialization, is further impacted by the energy crisis amid regional conflicts stoked by the United States, such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Iran-Israel conflict. A large volume of opportunities and investment therefore has flowed outward, forcing Europe to adopt trade-protectionist stances toward China, which brings complications to China's relationship with the EU. Mahoney said that a growing number of countries are seeing these developments. And they realize that if they want to avoid the boot heel of American hegemony, they have to find more constructive alternatives and the ability to advance according to their own agendas. "And these, in fact, are the alternatives that China is offering them."    He held that some significant headwinds would be raised for the short-term development of China-U.S. relations and they would become more complicated.     His position is that the United States is facing a relative decline and is being hollowed out from within by itself while still being engaged in imperial overreach globally. Increasingly, the world is building alternatives to that type of U.S. dominated model.     On the contrary, China is probably the country best-positioned in the world to weather those types of risks and to even moderate them to some extent. He believes the country will work through this.    "China has been a responsible major power that has committed itself to stability over conflict," said Mahoney.    "If the U.S. can wake up to that realization, while at the same time figure out a way to change its behavior and commitment to structural inequalities, then I think we might find the two countries being able to move together in a way that would better result in a shared future for humanity," he concluded.                    。    据潇湘晨报：4月24日，江苏的赵先生（化姓）告诉潇湘晨报记者，一次出差途中，他在东郊到家平台预约了上门中式推拿，按摩快结束时，女技师突然趴在他身上，大尺度触摸其隐私部位，要求他“加钟”。　　赵先生称，他拒绝了对方的要求，并向平台投诉。“半个月过去，平台没有给我解释。我现在也不知道，这个事情是怎么处理的，技师有没有被处罚……”　　“30分钟后，技师让我翻身并且脱去了我的浴袍，开始按摩腿部。一开始还正常，有意无意触碰到我的隐私区域，服务快结束时，脱去工作服，趴在我身上，发出一些声音，并用手大尺度抚摸我的隐私区域，要求加钟。”赵先生告诉记者，他拒绝了对方，并且假装玩手机，开始录像留证。

二 | 　　赵先生提供的视频里，女技师趴在他的身上，用手抚摸赵先生隐私区域，说道“给人家加个钟嘛，哪怕升个级嘛，小哥哥……”赵先生表示，“不想搞这种”。视频里，女技师电话里又接了一个单后，拿起衣服离开。　　“我觉得受到了侮辱。

三 | ”赵先生告诉记者，事情发生后，他向平台提供视频并投诉，要求退费且赔偿。但目前平台仅退款，没有其他处理结果。“这个技师按摩轻飘飘的，没有让我享受到正常的按摩服务，退费是基本的。

四 | 其次，按摩快结束时实施骚扰，我是单身，但如果我没有把持住，那就是触犯法律了，而且她的行为冒犯到我了。投诉已经半个月了，平台的回复是技师个人行为，与平台无关，不会进行其他处理。

五 | ”　　而就在今年“315”期间，因“涉黄加钟”“不加钟就不提供服务”等问题，东郊到家被多家媒体点名。　　其时东郊到家回应“涉黄风波”称，平台正规，涉黄是技师个人行为。　　时至今日，检索黑猫投诉平台发现，对东郊到家的各种投诉仍频频出现，其中不乏“涉黄”内容，平台“不作为”也是热门吐槽项。　　事实上，无论怎样撇清“涉黄是技师个人行为”，东郊到家平台的监管责任无法规避。　　东郊到家创始人汤帆曾表示，在合规方面，东郊到家起草且执行《平台商户违规治理白皮书》，采用涉黄专项管控体系，研发AI大数据模型，把对违规商户的预警准确度提高了400%。但究竟实际效果如何，东郊到家能否打赢“涉黄攻坚战”，做到真正“专业、正规、安全、绿色”，还有待进一步观察。　　4月24日，针对赵先生的投诉，潇湘晨报记者拨通了东郊到家的客服热线，一名工作人员表示，“核实到这个订单已经处理完成，有核实调查，该订单没有相应的情况”。

六 | 此外，她表示，平台绝对不会允许任何违规的项目。“顾客反馈之后，我们会进行核实处理的，核实到如果有相应的情况，肯定会严肃处罚相关技师，并且交公安进行处理。”（中国小康网综合潇湘晨报、中国青年网）。

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Published on:11:29:02