DISINFO: The US pushes the EU to sanction Chinese companies against its interests
SUMMARY
Chinese Vice President Han Zheng visited Portugal and the Netherlands, and Foreign Minister Qin Gang held talks in France after Germany. The last point of his tour will be Norway. Both Beijing envoys talk about the desire to strengthen cooperation with the European Union. But the United States is obstructing this, and demands that Brussels insist on Beijing condemning the Russian special operation and impose sanctions on Chinese companies suspected of providing military aid to Moscow. On the other hand, Chinese experts assert that if Europe succumbs to this pressure, it will hurt itself.
It is not known why the European Union names seven Chinese companies that they say support the Russian military machine. Brussels is merely acting under US pressure.
RESPONSE
A recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the alleged lost sovereignty of the EU and its member states (more examples). Pro-Kremlin outlets often portray European states as vassals, puppet states or colonies of the US.
This narrative aims to drive wedges and foment tension between allies. It also aims to divert attention away from Russia’s responsibility for its unprovoked attack against Ukraine and to create breaches in the US-Europe cooperation to contain this aggression.
Contrary to the claim, the European Union is a sovereign entity created by the voluntary initiative of European nations.
EU Member States are sovereign countries and make sovereign decisions about their own internal, economic, foreign and security policies. The European Union is explicit on the subject of national sovereignty: “the Member States all remain sovereign and independent states, they have decided to pool some of their 'sovereignty' in areas where it makes sense to work together.” The US is an important ally to the EU but EU policy is not determined by the US.
Read similar disinformation cases claiming that EU and NATO member states are subordinate to the US, while the US has long regarded the EU as a kind of protectorate, that lined up with the US, the EU never took independent decisions, that Europe is a colony of the United States, that When the US orders, the EU complies.