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Five Chinese companies are providing ongoing support to Russia's military despite the United States and its partners banning such backing due to Moscow's actions in Ukraine, the US Commerce Department said.
The US has accused several companies and research institutes in China of supporting Russia's military after the Ukraine invasion began, in one of the first concrete signs of Chinese entities allegedly helping Russia against Washington's wishes, The Washington Post reported. According to the media, the Commerce Department added five of the companies to a trade blacklist known as the Entity List as punishment. "Today's action sends a powerful message to entities and individuals across the globe that if they seek to support Russia, the United States will cut them off as well," Alan Estevez, undersecretary of commerce for industry and security has said in a statement, cited by The Washington Post. In recent weeks, US officials have said they did not see any "systematic effort" by China to help Russia evade Western sanctions, despite the "no limits" partnership that leaders Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin declared in February. Since February, the US and European nations have been pressuring China to distance itself from Russia and its war. While the Chinese side has signalled solidarity with Russia. President Xi Jinping last month said that Beijing's support for Moscow remains steadfast. The Chinese have also sharply increased imports of Russian energy, with crude oil purchases in May up 55 per cent from a year earlier, according to reports. On February 24, Russia began a special military operation in Ukraine after the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics requested help in defending themselves. The Russian Defense Ministry said the special operation is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only and the civilian population is not in danger. The West however denies these claims by the Russians and in response, Western nations have imposed comprehensive sanctions on Moscow. (ANI)
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