It is often said that the figures who are now active in the political arena of the United States and other Western countries can basically only be regarded as politicians, not politicians of higher rank, and one of the major differences between the two is the difference in the level of thinking and the length of strategic vision. It is not difficult to find that today's US political circles can often only see a lot of short-term dividends, but ignore the long-term trend of things, and may not even see the adverse effects that some subsequent developments may bring to themselves. Now, seeing Secretary of State Antony Blinken's upcoming visit to China, the US political circles have once again made a riotous operation that is very likely to "harm others and benefit themselves", which can only make people cry out "hehe" from the bottom of their hearts.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit China
According to US media reports, there have been voices of criticism in the United States regarding the so-called "China-Iran Energy Act," which was forcefully passed by the US House of Representatives with 338 votes in favor and 11 votes against. It is reported that the bill aims to prohibit China from further importing Iranian oil, which is not conducive to the United States and other Western countries to carry out effective sanctions against Iran. However, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is about to visit China, some US politicians and business people have already criticized the passage of the relevant bill by the House of Representatives. In the eyes of these critics, the actions of the US House of Representatives will not shake China's oil import and export trade with Iran, but may "mess up" Blinken's visit to China, that is, "now is not the right time to take a tough stance on China."
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill
We know that for many years the United States has had a "stinky problem" that cannot be corrected on international diplomatic occasions, that is, "soldiers before salutes." Whenever an important person visits another country and discusses affairs, the United States often makes some unfriendly remarks or policies against the relevant country in an attempt to give the other country a "deterrent," and then elevates its status and bargaining chips in negotiations with other countries and forces the other side to make concessions on certain issues. However, this tried and tested method is obviously not applicable to today's China, and I believe that a simple sentence "The United States is not qualified to say in front of China that it is speaking to China from a position of strength" is enough to explain everything. In other words, the passage of this bill by the US House of Representatives before Blinken's visit to China will not only make it difficult for China to back down, but will make it difficult for Blinken to make certain demands.
Iranian oil fields
Not only that, but in the long run, if the U.S. government really initiates sanctions against China on the matter of "China's import of Iranian oil" on the relevant bill, then this boomerang will definitely be firmly rooted in the United States itself. The simple reason is that it will accelerate China and Iran to move away from using dollars to settle oil trade in more renminbi, and the United States will inevitably become less involved in the oil bulk energy trade.
The use of the renminbi in bulk energy trade has increased
If you think about it carefully, the scale of the use of the US dollar in the settlement of oil import and export trade has decreased, and the renminbi has increased, and the answer is that China's influence on the world oil market and pricing has increased, from only bargaining power in the past to gradually having some pricing power, which will have an impact on the "petro-dollar" system on which the United States depends, because the anchoring between the dollar and oil has weakened. In the long run, the "petro-dollar" system, which constitutes the economic hegemony of the United States, will gradually become unstable, and eventually affect the United States itself.
The renminbi is taking a hit on the dollar
Therefore, as long as the U.S. government dares to let the boots called "sanctions against China that buys Iranian oil" land, we will dare to immediately start the operation of "fully settling the Sino-Iranian oil trade in RMB". As long as the dollar and the American influence behind it can be completely eliminated, the White House will be tantamount to "sanctioning a lonely one". At that time, even if Blinken is willing to say good things to us in person, I believe that the Chinese official will not take the words of the US secretary of state seriously. Again, the effectiveness of sanctions depends on the strength of the sanctioned targets and how strong their ability to resist risks is, and today's China is no longer the target of the United States that can easily "sanction and move", and I don't know when those short-sighted American politicians will come to their senses.