China is making a “huge and gross strategic mistake” and destroying a major investment deal with the EU by engaging in a sanctions standoff with Brussels, Clit Willems, a former senior of White House, responsible for trade negotiations, told CNBC.

The EU deal will no longer be discussed after Beijing imposed restrictions on European politicians, Willems said. We are talking about the March response of China to the actions of the European Union, where, in turn, they previously imposed sanctions on China, accusing it of repressions against the Uighurs, a Turkic people historically living in the Xinjiang region.

At the end of May, the European Parliament suspended the ratification of a new investment agreement with China pending the lifting of sanctions against EU representatives. Work on the agreements went on for seven years: it was assumed that European companies would receive equal rights in China, and Beijing would consolidate its status as a reliable trading partner.