China Damns Latest US Ban on 42 Firms Tied to Russian War

Beijing has slammed the US move on Friday to sanction dozens of Chinese companies for allegedly supporting the Russian military’s war in Ukraine.

The Ministry of Commerce said on Sunday it strongly opposed the decision to add multiple Chinese entities to its export control list over Russia-related issues.

That followed the US Treasury announcing on August 23 it had added 42 Chinese and 63 Russian firms to its trade restriction list. Companies on the list include two major Chinese machine tool suppliers and six electronic component suppliers.

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The sanctions also hit 18 companies from other countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Hong Kong, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Overall, the move affected over 400 firms and individuals.

The companies were targeted for reasons such as sending US electronics to Russian military-related parties to producing thousands of Shahed-136 drones for Russia to use in its invasion of Ukraine.

‘Misguided actions’

China’s Commerce Ministry said the US action disrupts international trade and hinders normal economic exchanges. It said China would take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights of its companies.

“The practice is a typical example of long-arm jurisdiction and unilateral sanctions, which disrupt international trade norms and rules, impedes normal trade between countries, and affects the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains,” the Global Times state media outlet quoted a government spokesperson as saying.

“We urge the US to immediately halt these misguided actions, and China will take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies,” the spokesperson said.

“The Chinese government is always neutral on the Ukraine issue and has never supplied weapons to either party, He Weiwen, [a] senior fellow from the Center for China and Globalization,” told the Global Times on Sunday.

Sullivan to visit Beijing

The sanctions come amid news that White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan will travel to Beijing on Tuesday (Aug 27) for a two-day visit to meet with China’s Foreign Affairs minister Wang Yi. The two are expected to discuss the war in Ukraine.

Senior US officials have issued repeated warnings to Chinese leaders not to support for Russia’s war effort.

And in April, Jens Stoltenberg, secretary-general of NATO security alliance, told China it must stop supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine if it wants to enjoy good relations with the West.

The latest moves show the Biden administration is desperate to ramp up pressure on companies sustaining Moscow’s war in Ukraine despite a raft of Western sanctions aimed at hobbling that effort because of reports that restricted American technology is still reaching Russia’s defence industry.

“We remain concerned by the magnitude of dual-use goods exports from the PRC to Russia,” the State Department said in a press release on Friday, using the acronym for the People’s Republic of China.

“Imports from the PRC are filling critical gaps in Russia’s defense production cycle, thereby enabling it to produce weapons, ramp up defence production, and bolster its military-industrial base.”

Being added to the Entity List forces US suppliers to get a difficult-to-obtain licence before shipping to the targeted companies. Many of the latest firms added to the list were given a special designation that also forces overseas suppliers to get the same US licences before shipping to the targeted companies.

# A State Department list of companies affected by the latest sanctions can be found here: New Measures to Degrade Russia’s Wartime Economy.