Sanctions: China warns US of consequences
Chinese government is threatening its US counterpart of “consequences” if it does not withdraw the sanctions imposed on the Chinese military over its purchase of fighter jets and missiles from Russia according to a Reuters report.
On Thursday, the US State Department said Chinese purchases of SU-35 aircraft and S-400 surface-to-air missiles breached a US sanctions law targeting Russia over its alleged meddling in the 2016 US election and actions in Ukraine.
But Beijing, on Friday, warned of consequences for Washington if it does not cancel those sanctions.
“The Chinese side expresses strong indignation over the above-mentioned unreasonable practices of the US side,” foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told journalists.
Moscow also warned that Washington was “playing with fire” and accused the US of trying to squeeze Russia out of the global arms market.
“This is unfair competition, dishonest competition, an attempt to use non-market methods that run counter to norms and principles of international trade to squeeze the main competitor of US makers out of the markets,” said President Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.
The sanctions target China’s Equipment Development Department (EDD) and its director, Li Shangfu, and have increased tensions between Washington and Beijing amid an escalating trade dispute.
The Trump administration also blacklisted 33 people and entities associated with the Russian military and intelligence services, adding them to a list under the 2017 sanctions law known as the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
The expansion of the Russian blacklist, which now has 72 names, includes 28 people and entities indicted by the special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
While being added to the blacklist does not trigger sanctions, anyone doing business with a blacklisted person or entity could face penalties like those imposed on China.
US officials said the imposition of penalties on China was the first time that a third-party country was punished under CAATSA and suggested the White House could use the law in the future against countries purchasing equipment from Russia.
