China has expressed its opposition to recent US sanctions against Chinese companies over their alleged links to Russia’s war in Ukraine and said it would take necessary measures to protect the rights and interests of the country’s companies.
BEIJING — China on Sunday expressed its opposition to recent US sanctions against Chinese companies over their alleged links to Russia’s war in Ukraine, saying it would take necessary measures to protect the rights and interests of the country’s companies.
The US announced on Friday sweeping sanctions against hundreds of companies in Russia and across Europe, Asia and the Middle East, accusing them of supplying products and services that support Russia’s war effort and help it evade sanctions. The US State Department expressed concern about “the scale of exports of dual-use goods” from China to Russia.
In its statement, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce has strongly opposed the US’s placement of several Chinese companies on its export control list. The move prohibits these companies from trading with US firms without a special license that is almost unattainable.
The ministry described the US measures as “typical unilateral sanctions” and said they would disrupt global trade order and rules and affect the stability of global industrial and supply chains.
“China calls on the United States to immediately stop its wrong practices and will take necessary measures to resolutely protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises,” it said.
The US measure is the latest in a series of thousands of US sanctions imposed on Russian firms and their suppliers in other countries since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The effectiveness of the sanctions has been questioned, especially as Russia continues to support its economy by selling oil and gas on international markets.
According to the US State Department, some China-based companies supplied machine tools and components to Russian companies.
China is trying to maintain a neutral stance in the Ukraine conflict, but like Russia, it harbors great hostility toward the West.
After Western countries imposed severe sanctions on Russian oil in response to Russia’s deployment of troops to Ukraine in February 2022, China sharply increased its purchases of Russian oil, thereby increasing its influence in Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin also underscored China’s importance by meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing shortly after being inaugurated for a fifth term in the Kremlin.
