CHINESE ECONOMIC SANCTIONS POLICY: THEORY AND PRACTICE

Abstract

China is perceived, on the one hand, as a long-term object of sanction pressure, on the other hand, as a consistent critic of using unilateral sanctions for political purposes. At the same time China has regularly applied unilateral economic sanctions at least since 2000-ies. As the PRC’s economic power grows, the world sees a rising number of the Chinese unilateral sanctions, which become increasingly effective. Analyzing China’s sanctions policy is complicated, as Beijing’s unilateral sanctions mostly lack any official announcement. The tools of sanction pressure concern export control, public authorities’ increased activity, sanitary restrictions, canceling previously approved credit lines, etc. China is most ready to apply sanctions as a response to issues concerning the offence of its military security and infringement of its and territorial integrity, both being identified as core national interests. Yet the number of sanctions applied to ensure a wider range of objectives is increasing. This article studies the Chinese approaches to the application of unilateral sanctions that are reflected in available publications of the Chinese scholars and particular examples of PRC’s sanctions policy. Since this paper is specifically focused on unilateral economic sanctions, it does not address the issues of China’s participation in implementation of sanctions measures introduced by the UN Security Council.