China calls US sanctions over Ukraine war ‘illegal and unilateral’

In comments Tuesday before the arrival of House National Security Adviser Jack Sullivan, China said U.S.-imposed sanctions over the war in Ukraine were “illegal and unilateral” and “not based on facts.” Several days of high-level talks were held in Beijing.

Last week, the U.S. imposed sanctions on more than 400 companies and individuals for supporting Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, including Chinese firms that U.S. officials say help Moscow build up its armed forces while bypassing Western sanctions.

Washington has repeatedly warned Beijing about its support for Russia’s defense industrial base and has issued hundreds of sanctions aimed at limiting Moscow’s ability to exploit certain technologies for military purposes.

Li Hui, China’s special envoy for Eurasian affairs, who has conducted four rounds of diplomacy, voiced opposition to the sanctions at a meeting of diplomats in Beijing following recent rounds of meetings with officials from Brazil, Indonesia and South Africa.

“A certain country is using the crisis… to shift blame in an attempt to create a so-called China responsibility theory and threaten countries with normal economic and trade relations with Russia with illegal and unilateral sanctions,” Li said.

Li did not name the United States, but China’s Commerce Ministry said Sunday it strongly opposed the sanctions and the Foreign Ministry expressed similar opposition to the previous round of restrictions.

Last week’s sanctions included actions against companies in China involved in sending machine tools and microelectronics to Russia.

“These words and actions are purely aimed at their selfish interests and are not based on facts, and the international community will never accept them,” Li added.

China has struggled to portray itself as a party seeking a solution to the conflict, despite boycotting a peace conference in Switzerland in June.

Following the previous round of talks led by Li, Beijing made proposals to support the exchange of prisoners of war, oppose the use of nuclear and biological weapons, and oppose armed attacks on civilian nuclear facilities.

In a 12-point document a year ago, China laid out general principles for ending the war but did not go into specifics.

This year, China and Brazil jointly called for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. On Tuesday, Li expressed hope that many countries would endorse China’s peace efforts.