February 24, 2023 Updated: February 24, 2023
Undersecretary of State
for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland testifies before a Senate Foreign
Relations Committee hearing on Ukraine in Washington, D.C., on March 8, 2022.
(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
U.S. Sanctions
targeting Russia on the one-year anniversary of the
war in Ukraine will also hit China-linked entities that are violating
export bans against Moscow, according to the State Department.
The Biden administration
has identified that China-linked firms—some Europe-based—are evading
existing sanctions against
Russia intended to weaken Moscow’s ability to finance and supply its military
offensive in Ukraine.
“There will be in the
sanctions packages that we will be announcing tomorrow on the one-year
anniversary of the war,” U.S. Under Secretary of State Victoria Nuland
said during a live Washington Post event on Feb. 23. “We will also be
putting other constraints on entities, Chinese-based or Chinese subs of entities
in Europe.”
In January, the U.S.
Department of the Treasury sanctioned the Chinese technology company
Spacety for providing geolocating data to a private Russian mercenary group
that has fought alongside Moscow forces in the war.
Some of the items being
accessed by Russia include laptops, smartphones, dishwashers, washing machines,
and cars. Nuland alleged that developing countries are acting as intermediaries
to supply the goods to Moscow.
U.S. officials are
concerned that advanced semiconductor chips in these products could be used for
military purposes.
“They can cannibalize
this machinery to get the advanced chips that we have denied them so that they
can make more rockets,” Nuland said. “We will clamp down on that evasion
starting tomorrow.”
The State Department has
taken a firmer stance against countries that would send lethal aid to Russia,
which Nuland and other U.S. officials suspect China’s ruling communist party is
considering. On Thursday, when asked by NBC whether the Biden administration
would share the intelligence behind these suspicions, White House Press
Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that they have no plans to do so but it is
not off the table.
Biden administration
officials continued to issue warnings to Beijing this week, hoping to deter any
potential arms trafficking to Russia that might occur.
“[Lethal aid] would be a
complete step change,” Nuland said. “Not only in how they are viewed globally and
their claims of neutrality but also in our relationship with China.”
“This is not something
that can be done under the carpet while China professes to be neutral.”
At a Department of Defense press briefing on Wednesday,
Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh warned of “consequences” for
China if they were to provide lethal support. When asked by The Epoch Times
what those consequences might look like, she would not specify.
“I don’t want to get
ahead and forecast any of those consequences,” Singh said.
Friday’s
sanctions will also target Russian companies in financial, technology, and
military-affiliated industries.
President Joe Biden will
meet virtually with other G7 leaders and Ukrainian President Zelensky on Friday
to announce the new sanctions. Friday marks the one-year anniversary of
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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