The U.S. Commerce Department blacklisted five Chinese firms for allegedly supporting the Russian military this week.
The U.S. sanctions landed against the firms Tuesday, hitting Connec Electronic Ltd., King Pai Technology Co., Sinno Electronics Co., Winninc Electronic and World Jetta (H.K.) Logistics Ltd., according to The Wall Street Journal. The Commerce Department placed them on the “entity list” forbidding U.S. companies from doing business with them.
The new restrictions, a result of the firms allegedly aiding Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, come as the Biden administration denies that China has offered support for Russia’s military. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters Tuesday that despite overtures of cooperation between Beijing and Moscow, China has not acted to support Russia “at scale.”
“For us, the number-one priority with respect to China, when it comes to the war in Ukraine, is that China not become militarily supportive of Russia through the provision of equipment. Number two is that they not engage in wholesale or systematic undermining or evasion of U.S. sanctions,” Sullivan said.
“And on both of those, thus far, we have not seen China act in a way inconsistent with those two principles and certainly not at scale with respect to the economic relationship,” he continued.
The Commerce Department’s action is the first taken against Chinese firms over the Russia-Ukraine war since its beginning in February. A representative at the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., claimed that Beijing has only sought to promote peace in Russia.
“China’s position on the Ukrainian issue is consistent and clear. We have been playing a constructive role in promoting peace talks and have not provided military assistance to the conflicting parties,” the representative told WSJ.
Western leaders are closely watching how China treats Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, worrying that Russia’s invasion may be a precursor to China’s own invasion of neighboring Taiwan. Chinese President Xi Jinping has long claimed that Taiwan is a part of China and should be brought under Beijing’s rule.
Concerns of China’s cooperation with Russia shot up after Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a 5,000-word joint-statement in early February against the “further enlargement of NATO,” which Putin later cited as a reason for his invasion of Ukraine. Beijing also reportedly had advanced warning from Russia that it intended to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and the two countries coordinated the timing of the invasion to fall after the 2022 Winter Olympics, which China hosted.