Could business be caught in the crossfire of China’s ‘legal battle with the West’?

Name: Beijing hits back at Western sanctions against China’s alleged treatment of Uygur Muslims
Uploaded: 2021-06-08T22:00:22.000Z
Duration: 3 min 36 s
Description: Beijing hits back at Western sanctions against China’s alleged treatment of Uygur Muslims

China’s national legislature set to pass draft law meant to give firmer legal footing for counteraction to foreign sanctions

Legislation largely symbolic but there may be fallout for companies on the ground, observers say

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China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee is expected pass a bill to counter foreign sanctions. Photo: Simon Song

Sarah Zheng,Catherine WongandAmanda Lee

Published: 6:00am, 9 Jun 2021Updated: 9:57am, 9 Jun 2021

Businesses in China could get caught in the crossfire as the national legislature presses ahead with a bill meant to bolster countermeasures against Western sanctions, according to analysts.

The draft anti-foreign sanctions legislation is a response to action by the United States and other countries over Beijing’s political crackdown in Hong Kong and its treatment of ethnic minority groups in Xinjiang. It is expected to pass on Thursday at the closing session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee.

Details of the legislation have not been made public but analysts said that while it might not do much to deter Western governments from sanctioning China over human rights concerns, it would provide a legal basis for Chinese countersanctions.

This would compel Chinese companies to not comply with foreign sanctions and it would pressure foreign firms with businesses in China to avoid links to entities targeted by Chinese sanctions, analysts said.

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Beijing hits back at Western sanctions against China’s alleged treatment of Uygur Muslims

Huang Feng, a law professor at Beijing Normal University, said that in recent years firms in China had been caught between complying with Western sanctions and abiding by Chinese rules and regulations.