USA sanctions Chinese companies – pressure for cooperation with Russia is growing

“China-based companies or Chinese sub-organizations of companies in Europe” that are “actively involved in circumventing” Western sanctions against Russia are affected, said top US diplomat Victoria Nuland on Thursday.

In January, the United States had already sanctioned the Chinese company Spacety in connection with the Ukraine war. The company is said to have sold geolocation technology to a Russian company that the US government says supplies the Wagner Group. The private mercenary company fights alongside the Russian military in Ukraine.

Biden will announce the new sanctions at a virtual meeting with G7 leaders, the White House said. The focus is on Russian banks and companies and people from the technology and defense sectors.

“They want modern chips to build rockets”

The G7 accuse Russia of using third countries to circumvent the West’s war sanctions and import foreign goods like washing machines and cars that contain semiconductors. Among other things, the USA warns that the chips can be used for the Russian military.

“They are importing a thousand percent more laptops, iPhones and dishwashers from third countries,” Nuland said. “Because they want to get modern chips that we’re denying them just so they can make more rockets.”

According to the top diplomat, no company in the world should support the “Russian war machine”. “So we will take action against it.” Washington also sees the purchase of Russian energy by China as a means of circumventing the blockades by the West.

Report: Russia negotiates drones with Chinese company

The new sanctions are the latest escalation in the tense relationship between the USA and China. US President Biden has banned Chinese tech companies in droves from the US market, and new export controls are in the works. In early February, the launch of a Chinese surveillance balloon over US airspace triggered a diplomatic crisis.

A few days ago, the US government finally warned of possible arms deliveries from China to Russia for the Ukraine war. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US has intelligence that China “is considering providing lethal support” to Russia.

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According to Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, NATO is “increasingly concerned” about this possibility. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) said in the ZDF talk “Maybrit Illner” on Thursday that he had made it clear to China that arms deliveries to Russia would not be accepted.

According to a report by “Spiegel”, a Chinese company and Moscow are already negotiating the purchase of 100 drones. These could therefore be delivered by April and would also be able to carry warheads. The magazine does not name any further sources for its information.

According to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, the US is threatening “serious consequences” if the suspicion of arms deliveries proves to be true. Blinken’s Secretary of State Karen Donfried suggested that deliveries from Beijing would be a turning point in US-Chinese relations.

“If we see China providing material support to Russia in its war against Ukraine, it would fundamentally change our relationship with China,” she told journalists in Washington. According to Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US Ambassador to the United Nations, the US has already informed Beijing about the specific impact.

Speech duel between China and Germany

At a special session of the United Nations, China’s role in the Ukraine war was an ongoing topic. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called on China to publish its peace plan under the umbrella of the UN Charter instead of presenting its own concept. As a permanent member of the 15-member UN Security Council, China has “a special responsibility to restore world peace,” said the Green politician.

In her speech to the General Assembly, she also addressed China without naming the economic giant. China and other countries have accused the United States and Europe of pouring “fuel on the fire” with their arms deliveries to Ukraine.

Baerbock rejected these allegations. “Why should we do that?” she said. “We didn’t want this war.” China’s UN representative Dai Bing said in New York that arms deliveries from the West to Ukraine would not create peace, but only fuel the war.

On Friday, the US will chair a ministerial meeting on the sidelines of a UN Security Council session. Washington emphasizes that it wants to keep diplomatic channels open to China. “We are not looking for a new Cold War,” stressed Biden. According to the White House, he wants to call Xi as soon as possible.

More: Biden invokes the “resistance of the free world” in Warsaw

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