US imposes penalties on over a dozen Chinese companies for aiding Russia's conflict in Ukraine.
Following a series of warnings from high-ranking US officials such as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the US has decided to impose sanctions on Chinese entities supplying dual-use items to Russia. These items are believed to be helping Russia reinforce its military in the ongoing war against Ukraine.
The Treasury Department announced in a news statement that some 300 targets would be sanctioned, with both Treasury and the Department of State participating in the process. The sanctions would encompass various actors who enabled Russia to secure technology and equipment from different countries.
In addition to targeting Chinese entities, the sanctions hit individuals and groups in Russia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Slovakia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. The intention of these sanctions is to prevent evasion of existing sanctions, support for Russia's military-industrial complex, and hamper its biological and chemical weapons programs. Furthermore, the Treasury Department targeted those providing precursor materials used in explosives to Russia.
As per a State Department fact sheet, the US sanctions focused on Chinese organizations responsible for developing and supplying dual-use aerospace, manufacturing, and technology equipment to Russian entities. The sanctions specifically targeted the producers and exporters of items vital to Russia's defense-industrial base, with at least some of them shipping goods to sanctioned entities in Russia.
The Biden administration has been growing increasingly concerned about China's contribution to Russia's defense-industrial base, strongly believing that this support is allowing Moscow to prolong the war against Ukraine. As Russia reconstructs its defense capabilities, the US and its allies have been trying to put pressure on Beijing to curtail its support. The diplomatic or punitive measures employed to persuade China are intended to gauge the impact of these efforts.
A senior State Department official remarked before Antony Blinken's trip to China that Russia is no longer at a disadvantage; it is gaining strength, possessing considerable resources, and posing a threat not just to Ukraine, but to the wider region as well.
Following a day of meetings in Beijing, Blinken remarked that he had expressed his concerns in detail about China's support for Russia's defense industrial base. However, it remains unclear if any actions will result from these discussions.
"It is extremely critical that the support it's providing – not in terms of weapons but components for the defense industrial base – again, things like machine tools, microelectronics, where it is overwhelmingly the number-one supplier to Russia. That's having a significant effect in Ukraine and against Ukraine, but it's also having a significant effect in creating a growing threat that Russia poses to countries in Europe and something that has captured their attention in a very intense way," Blinken stated last week.
Nevertheless, the US apprehensions over China's cooperation with Russia don't seem to be leading to any discernible changes in China's stance.
Read also:
- Year of climate records: extreme is the new normal
- Precautionary arrests show Islamist terror threat
- UN vote urges Israel to ceasefire
- SPD rules out budget resolution before the end of the year
Source: edition.cnn.com
