China protests US sanctioning of firms dealing with Russia

Beijing on Saturday protested US sanctions against additional Chinese companies over their alleged attempts to evade US export controls on Russia calling it an illegal move that endangers global supply chainsThe United States Commerce Department on Wednesday put five firms based in mainland China and Hong Kong on its entity list barring them from trading with any US firms without gaining a nearly unobtainable special licenseWashington has been tightening up enforcement of sanctions against foreign firms it sees as providing assistance to Russia in its war against Ukraine forcing them to choose between trading with Moscow or with the USA total of 28 entities from countries ranging from Malta to Turkey to Singapore were added to the listA statement from Chinas Commerce Ministry said the US action has no basis in international law and is not authorized by the United Nations Security CouncilIt is a typical unilateral sanction and a form of longarm jurisdiction which seriously damages the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises and affects the security and stability of the global supply chain China firmly opposes this the statement saidThe US should immediately correct its wrongdoing and stop its unreasonable suppression of Chinese companies China will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies it addedThe latest sanctions were levelled against Allparts Trading Co Ltd Avtex Semiconductor Limited ETC Electronics Ltd Maxtronic International Co Ltd and STK Electronics Co Ltd registered in Hong KongAlso readNavi Mumbai African national arrested with drugs worth Rs 10 lakhThe list identifies entities essentially businesses that the US suspects have been involved are involved or pose a significant risk of being or becoming involved in activities contrary to the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States the department saidEntities named were designated as military end users for attempting to evade export controls and acquiring or attempting to acquire USorigin items in support of Russias military andor defence industrial base it saidThe Chinese protest was similar to one issued in February after the US announced sanctions against the Chinese company Changsha Tianyi Space Science and Technology Research Institute Co Ltd also known as Spacety ChinaThe department said the company supplied Russias Wagner Group private army affiliates with satellite imagery of Ukraine that support Wagners military operations there A Luxembourgbased subsidiary of Spacety China was also targetedAt that time Chinas Foreign Ministry accused the US of outright bullying and double standards for sanctioning its companies while intensifying efforts to provide Ukraine with defensive weaponsChina has maintained that it is neutral in the conflict while backing Russia politically rhetorically and economically at a time when Western nations have imposed punishing sanctions and sought to isolate Moscow for the invasion of its neighbourChina has refused to criticize Russias actions blasted Western economic sanctions on Moscow maintained trade ties and affirmed a iquestno limitsiquest relationship between the countries just weeks before last years invasionChinese President Xi Jinping visited Moscow last month and China announced Friday that Defence Minister Gen Li Shangfu would visit Russia this coming week for meetings with counterpart Sergei Shoigu and other military officialsHowever Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Friday said China wont sell weapons to either side in the war responding to Western concerns that Beijing could provide outright military assistance to RussiaRegarding the export of military items China adopts a prudent and responsible attitude Qin said at a news conference alongside visiting German counterpart Annalena BaerbockChina will not provide weapons to relevant parties of the conflict and manage and control the exports of dualuse items in accordance with laws and regulationsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever