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

少林足球

一 | 10月11日，记者来到位于大山之中的国网新源辽宁清原抽水蓄能电站项目建设现场。 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. 。沿着长1560米的交通洞一路前行，就能见到电站的“心脏”——地下厂房。偌大的地下厂房内，6台机组沿着厂房中心线依次排列。

二 | 　　“目前，已有4台机组投产发电，5号机组于9月28日开始整组启动进行调试，6号机组总装已完成，正在盘柜配线。”机电部副主任陶迎新说，眼下正是电站建设的关键时期，全体参建人员干劲十足，抓紧时间进行机组调试及土建工程收尾等工作。

三 | 　　在5号机组的调试现场，运行部副主任孙源紧盯闪烁的人机交互屏，记录机组运行参数。“发电机的单边气间隙只有32毫米，每一次滑擦升速都非常危险，我们要在有限的时间内，把所有危险因素排除。”孙源说，他们仅用5天就完成了静态调试，随后便投入到机组的整组调试中。目前，机组运行状态良好，发电电动机、水泵水轮机以及其他辅助设备运行稳定。　　国庆节假期，运行部员工仍然奋战在施工一线。“整个机组的调试周期为两个月，我们要尽快完成所有调试工作，力争机组零误差投入商运。”孙源说，每台机组的转子重达385吨，以375转/分钟的转速高速旋转，通过近4万个零件精细安装，摆度要控制在0.1毫米以内，还不到头发丝直径的一半，如此高的标准，要求他们的工作必须精益求精。　　国网新源辽宁清原抽水蓄能电站是国家“十三五”期间重点工程，电站总装机容量180万千瓦，是东北地区规模最大的抽水蓄能电站，被称为“超级充电宝”。电站2023年12月实现第一台机组投产发电。第二、三、四台机组分别于3月28日、6月29日、8月28日投产发电。　　全省冲刺四季度打赢攻坚战动员部署会吹响了冲锋的号角，国网新源辽宁清原抽水蓄能有限公司全力以赴做好四季度工作，努力完成全年目标任务。

四 | “按照公司工作安排，我们已全面进入‘冲刺状态’，以试运行指挥部为中心，下设启动调试组、验收检查组、生产维护组和综合组，不分昼夜地加快机组安装、调试步伐。”机电部专责邹颜泽说。截至10月8日，全年4台机组累计发电量75552.45万千瓦时，累计抽水电量92010.9万千瓦时。　　“每台机组的调试期一般需要3个月，预计2025年3月前6台机组全部投产发电。”孙源说，届时，国网新源辽宁清原抽水蓄能电站将实现年发电量30亿千瓦时，年抽水电量40亿千瓦时，在辽宁电网中承担调峰、调频、调相、储能、系统备用、黑启动等职责，为辽宁电网提供安全可靠、灵活高效、绿色清洁的电力保障。6台机组全部投运后，每年将节约标煤15.8万吨，减少二氧化碳排放37.5万吨，每年将纳税超1亿元，为地方经济社会发展提供强大的新动能。