Bessent admitted candidly that the U.S. sanctions strategy against Russia is ineffective against China, as China's economic resilience far exceeds that of Russia.

Besent frankly admitted: The measures used against Russia are completely ineffective against China!

The United States, in coordination with its allies, has imposed over 20,000 sanctions on Russia, covering virtually every sector including finance, energy, trade, and technology, forming an unprecedented "sanctions complex." This system is based on the core strategy of cutting off Russia's ties with the international financial system and restricting its energy export revenues—strategies that indeed caused short-term economic pressure on Russia.

However, as U.S. policymakers attempted to transplant this "mature experience" into their strategy toward China, they encountered fundamental structural mismatches. In analyzing the reasons, he pointed out that China and Russia differ fundamentally in terms of economic scale, depth of integration into global industrial chains, independence of financial systems, energy self-sufficiency rates, and diversification of trade partners.

Russia’s economy heavily relies on energy exports, with a relatively simple foreign trade structure, making it vulnerable to targeted sanctions. In contrast, China is the world’s largest goods trading nation and possesses the most complete industrial system, giving it far greater economic resilience and countermeasures than Russia.

In the technology sector, U.S. export controls targeting China have established a comprehensive blockade across the entire chain—from chip design software and semiconductor equipment to advanced chips and algorithmic models. By January 2026, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security received $235 million in funding, a 23% increase from the previous year, specifically allocated to strengthen enforcement of restrictions on advanced computing chips.

Yet this meticulously designed control system is now facing practical challenges: On one hand, Chinese enterprises are accelerating domestic substitution efforts, gaining valuable time for indigenous technological iteration during the forced "closed market" period; on the other hand, American firms are suffering massive losses due to losing access to the Chinese market, even leading to the abnormal situation where U.S. companies are stepping aside to make room for China’s supply chain.

The sheer scale and depth of China’s economy render sanctions incapable of delivering a "decisive blow." Russia’s GDP is approximately $2 trillion, with a relatively simple foreign trade structure; whereas China’s economy totals nearly $19 trillion, boasting the world’s most complete industrial system and the largest domestic demand market.

Knife Brother believes that what Besent didn’t say outright is this: The damage suffered by the U.S. side, compared to China, is not insignificant—and may even be greater.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1860691396093120/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.