Abuse of ＂long arm jurisdiction＂ has made the world bitter and beautiful for a long time.
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, February 3rd Title: Abuse of "long arm jurisdiction" has made the world bitter and beautiful for a long time.
Xinhua News Agency reporter Fan Yu
The "long-arm jurisdiction" of the United States has existed for a long time, and its means are constantly being refurbished, but its essence is always a tool to safeguard American hegemony. The stick of sanctions has become more and more fierce, and the "arm" has become longer and longer. This arbitrary judicial practice of "extraterritorial jurisdiction" on entities and individuals in other countries has caused great harm to the world.
"Long-arm jurisdiction" was originally used to deal with the interstate jurisdiction of the United States, and later gradually evolved into a big weapon in the American bullying toolbox. The United States is constantly strengthening its legislation in an attempt to put on a "legitimate" coat for "long-arm jurisdiction", which not only involves a variety of legal names, but also lowers its application threshold to expand its discretion. At the same time, the United States has also established a "long-arm jurisdiction" implementation system with multi-sectoral division of labor and cooperation. The State Council, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce and other departments in the United States perform their respective duties and cooperate with each other, and are endowed with law enforcement powers such as freezing assets, drawing up a list of sanctioned individuals and entities, and examining and issuing licenses. In addition, the US government also provides support for the enforcement of economic sanctions by controlling the two cross-border fund payment and settlement systems, SWIFT and CHIPS.
On July 4, 2022, in front of the US Embassy in Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe, members of Zimbabwe’s "Alliance Against Sanctions" held placards to oppose the long-term economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by the United States and its Western allies. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Tafara Muguala)
According to the report of the US Treasury Department, by the end of fiscal year 2021, the United States has imposed more than 9,400 sanctions. Its number and variety are shocking. Ali Laidi, a researcher at the French Institute of International Relations and Strategy, pointedly pointed out in the book "The Secret War" that the United States openly exerts pressure on any country through "long-arm jurisdiction", whether it is an ally or an enemy, and it is completely "absolute monarch".
The United States abused "long arm jurisdiction" and attacked the multilateral international order. The United States frequently implements unilateral sanctions outside the framework of the United Nations. In 2021 alone, the US Department of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce and other departments imposed various sanctions on more than 2,000 entities. As a result, the sanctions function of the Security Council has been impacted, seriously affecting its normal operation of maintaining international peace and security. Ignoring its "301" measures, the United States has been ruled by the Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organization as a violation of international law. It continues to launch various unilateral "301 investigations" on imported products from China and other countries, and maintains the existing "301" tariff measures, undermining the tariff concessions achieved by the multilateral trading system after several rounds of difficult negotiations, flagrantly trampling on the purpose and spirit of the multilateral trading system and damaging the cornerstone of its operation.
The abuse of "long arm jurisdiction" by the United States poses a serious threat to the economic sovereignty of other countries. So far, American "long arm jurisdiction" has involved China, Russian, Iranian, Syrian, North Korea, Cuba and other countries. Even during the global spread of the COVID-19 epidemic, the U.S. government stubbornly insisted on imposing unilateral sanctions on Iran, Syria and other countries, which made it difficult for the sanctioned countries to obtain medical supplies needed to fight the epidemic in time. The United States even spared its allies, and many enterprises in France, Britain, Germany, Japan and other countries became "meals on the plate" under its "long arm jurisdiction". The stories of victims such as Deutsche Bank and Alstom in France were widely circulated in the global industry. The French "Echo" pointed out that "long arm jurisdiction" has become a weapon in the American economic war.
This is the capitol in Washington, DC, on January 19th. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Shen Ting)
The abuse of "long arm jurisdiction" by the United States interferes with the international trade order, undermines the normal supply chain of global trade, and harms the interests of enterprises in other countries. As long as the entity behavior has the so-called "minimum contact" with the United States, the "long arm" may arrive at any time. With the "long arm" of the United States stretched out indiscriminately, European companies such as Germany, France and Italy were fined or dealt a fatal blow. In order to hunt down competitive enterprises, the "long arm jurisdiction" of the United States has been increased layer by layer, expanding from the United States to the global scope, and extending from American goods to goods produced by American technology and equipment. Such interference in international business transactions and competition completely deviates from its long-term self-proclaimed liberal market economy concept.
The United States is abusing its "long arm jurisdiction" and is eating itself back. In order to counter the "long arm" of the United States, some countries, while perfecting their own laws, also launched a counterattack against the United States on multilateral occasions. In 1996, the European Union passed the Blocking Act, which blocked the effect of American "long arm jurisdiction" measures in the EU by legislation. In addition, the EU has put forward proposals and initiated initiatives in the United Nations General Assembly, the Security Council, the WTO and other international institutions, calling on the international community to pay attention to the dangers of the "long-arm jurisdiction" of the United States. The addiction to sanctions and bullying in the United States have caused increasingly strong dissatisfaction in the international community, and the willfulness of the United States’ "long-arm jurisdiction" will eventually harm others and harm themselves.