China firmly opposes the United States imposing sanctions on Chinese enterprises for Russia-related reasons, the Chinese commerce ministry said on Monday.
China will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, the ministry said in a statement on its website.
The Biden administration on Friday announced new trade restrictions on 93 entities from Russia, China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Kyrgyzstan, India and South Korea for supporting Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.
The action, one day before the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, essentially bans U.S. shipments to the targeted entities, including eight from China, 63 from Russia, 16 from Turkey and four from the UAE.
According to a report, China resolutely opposes the move of the United States in sanctioning Chinese companies for alleged involvement with Russia, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Monday.
“The move is a typical act of economic coercion,” said the spokesperson, noting that the U.S. side has imposed unilateral sanctions and “long-arm jurisdiction” on Chinese companies.
China will take necessary measures to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises, the spokesperson added.
“The position of the Chinese government is that we believe that sanctions have never been a fundamental and effective way to solve problems, and China always opposes any illegal unilateral sanctions,” Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry, said at a regular press briefing on Wednesday.
“Since 2011, the United States has imposed sanctions on Russia more than 100 times, but we can all think about it calmly,” she added. “Have U.S. sanctions solved the problem?”
Russia has cultivated close ties with China, a neighbor whose huge domestic economy offers a potential bulwark against Western sanctions. Xi Jinping, the Chinese leader, met with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia at the Olympic Games in Beijing this month, and they declared in a joint statement that their friendship had “no limits.”
Still, China offered an equivocal response to Mr. Putin’s moves against Ukraine this week, neither criticizing nor endorsing his decision to recognize two separatist enclaves and order the deployment of troops.
But on the question of sanctions, China was sharply critical, warning against moves that could have wider effects. “When handling the Ukraine issue and relations with Russia,” Ms. Hua said, “the U.S. must not harm the legitimate rights and interests of China and other parties.”
