In just 48 hours before October 23, the European Union coldly rolled out the 19th round of sanctions, not only continuing to block Russian companies, but also for the first time putting 12 companies from mainland China and Hong Kong on the "black list".

Von der Leyen meant that this is not over, and it will continue later, the EU itself is in the rubble, on the one hand because the Netherlands restricts the export of certain chip equipment to China, resulting in the whole European automotive industry chip alarm, inventory lasts only two weeks; on the other hand, China and Europe are conducting sensitive negotiations on the issue of rare-earth export control.

Just in this bone, Von der Leyen chose to use the "nuclear option" against the Chinese enterprise, as if it was to cut his own meat with a knife, and also expect others to hurt.

Chinese enterprises become "scapegoats"?

The EU targeted Russia normally, but this time suddenly turned its eyes to China, dirty water to Chinese enterprises, has not yet provided concrete evidence, only on the basis of "possible" "doubt" to conclude, can only say no rules.

The companies subject to the sanctions are mostly related to trade, energy, chemical, and Russian business, but the EU says the transactions may indirectly "support Russian war efforts."

The question is, the EU itself is also the Russian energy giant, just changed the term "necessary imports", so why can't the same criteria be applied to Chinese companies?

This is a double standard, the EU wants to pressure China through sanctions, so that China is "a little closer to the West" in its position to Russia, but this way is obviously wrong to calculate, China's position has always been to remain neutral, the European Union's kick, not only did not hit the point, but instead undermined the unnaturally stable trust between Central Europe.

EU double-standard trade

What does the EU need most now? It is a stable supply of rare earths, raw materials for chips, and normal trade with China. However, while they talk about cooperation, they also impose restrictions and sanctions behind their backs, which makes people incomprehensible.

They want to let China relax rare earth export restrictions, to support Europe's green transformation and manufacturing upgrading, but at the same time, also put Chinese enterprises on the blacklist, to say it is both want to take cheap, but do not want to compromise, this "both should and should" logic, good to say is a strategic operation, to say bad to listen is not reason,

What is even more confusing is that the EU keeps saying that it wants to follow a "rules-oriented" path, but it frequently breaks the rules. There is no transparent procedure or substantive evidence for attacking China companies. It sanctions as if it says sanctions, as if "I have the final say." This is not fair trade, this is hegemony.

In fact, the European Union understands that China is not the object that can be handled at hand, but they still hold on to an illusion: think that China will tolerate swallowing in order to retain opportunities for cooperation, but the reality is that China will never sit down when faced with unfair treatment.

The EU is strong on the outside and weak on the inside

The EU dares to make such a move. In fact, it is more of a "external strength but a middle strength". Their economic situation is not good, and there are many internal contradictions. The two major locomotives of the EU are smoking. At this time, they have to make a move outside. It seems like they want to cover up internal problems by "tough stance".

To make matters worse, the EU now has to go three ways. On the one hand, it has to deal with the pressure from the United States, especially the threat of imposing tariffs on European companies; on the other hand, it has to continue to support Ukraine, which has increased pressure on fiscal expenditures; and now it has taken the initiative to attack China companies, which means that it has another front.

This "multi-headed warfare" strategy is easy for people to feel that the EU is gambling, rather than making rational decisions, they do not have a unified policy against China, different countries think differently, can only rely on the European Commission to harden, and Von der Leyen's "hardness" is more a gesture, and the actual effect has to depend on how China will respond.

Throw your fist out, the hurt may be yourself.

From a Chinese perspective, such sanctions, whether or not they have any substantive effects, will be seen as an unfriendly act, China is not afraid of cooperation being limited, but does not accept being accused without reason, if the EU continues to follow this path, China will surely respond.

Past practices have proved this point. China's countermeasures are subject to rules. If the EU continues to expand the sanctions list, then China can not expect cooperation in other fields.

More importantly, once the trust between China and Europe is completely broken, it will affect not only a few companies, but the entire industrial chain, European companies in China market share will be replaced by other countries, and the EU wants a stable, efficient supply chain, will also become increasingly difficult.

The EU has always said that it wants to achieve "strategic autonomy," but it cannot be achieved through sanctions and confrontation. Real autonomy is to make decisions based on choice, rather than following the United States and counting on China to cooperate. Now this "dilemma" situation will only make the EU itself more passive.

China-EU relations need to be maintained

The EU's move against Chinese companies is ostensibly to sanction Russia, but in fact it has deviated from its original goal. What is really affected is the already weak line of cooperation between China and Europe. Once trust is broken, it is more difficult to restore it than to establish it.

China has always had the sincerity of both sides to negotiate, this is the principle, but the basic principle of China in dealing with international relations, if the EU does not see this clearly, or deliberately ignore, the future cooperation space will only be smaller and smaller, so that both sides will suffer losses, such a price no one can afford.

The Netherlands is just the beginning, the EU continues to increase the cost of sanctions, but the more funds it invests, the greater the EU crisis, the greater the risk of bankruptcy, can the EU stand?

The storm of sanctions is still ongoing, how the EU will go next, how China will react, are still in a dynamic change, but it is certain that if the EU does not give itself a way back, then this storm finally scratches on whom, it is really bad to say that the list of our country clearly has more resistance to risk, the EU's economy in these years has been stretching.

Easy to repair, difficult to repair.

The EU's punch may seem aggressive this time, but in the long run, it is more like tearing up a path of cooperation itself. For China companies, the market is vast and there are many options; for the EU, losing China as a stable partner of cooperation will be a long-term loss, but losing trust will be even more troublesome.

If the EU still wants to retain its position in the global industrial chain, it should be clear: whether to keep up with the wind sanctions, or to sit down and talk, it is easy to whip, it is difficult to pick up the fist; exports are simple, but it takes time to repair the relationship, and how the future will go, depends on each decision of the EU.