The US is consulting with close allies about the possibility of imposing new sanctions on China if Beijing provides military support to Russia for its war in Ukraine, four US officials and other sources said.
The preliminary consultations are intended to encourage support for possible restrictions from wealthy G7 nations.
Washington and its allies have said in that past few weeks, without providing evidence, that China is considering providing weapons to Russia, which Beijing denies.
Photo: AFP
They have also warned China against doing so, including in meetings between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), as well as during an in-person meeting on Feb. 18 between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Central Foreign Affairs Commission Director Wang Yi (王毅) on the sidelines of a global security conference in Munich.
The Biden administration’s initial steps to counter Chinese support for Russia have included informal outreach at the staff and diplomatic levels, sources familiar with the matter said.
Officials are laying the groundwork for action against Beijing with a core group of countries that were most supportive of sanctions imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine a year ago, they said.
One official from a country consulted by Washington said that they had seen scant intelligence backing up the claims about China considering military assistance to Russia, the sources said.
However, a US official said they were providing detailed intelligence to allies.
China’s role in the Russia-Ukraine war is expected to be among the topics when Biden meets with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Washington today.
The initial outreach by Washington on sanctions has not led to broad agreement on any specific measures, the sources said.
One source said the administration wanted to first raise the idea of coordinated sanctions and “take pulses” in the event that shipments are detected to Russia from China.
Detailed measures focused on China were not yet in place, a source said.
With Russia running low on munitions, Ukraine and its supporters fear that supplies from China could tilt the conflict to Moscow’s advantage.
As part of a related diplomatic push, Washington on Friday last week won language in a G7 statement that called on “third countries” to “cease providing material support to Russia’s war, or face severe costs.”
The US has since imposed penalties on people and companies accused of helping Russia evade sanctions. The measures included export curbs on companies in China and elsewhere that would block them from buying items such as semiconductors.
Among the challenges the US faces in putting sanctions on China, the world’s second-largest economy, is its thorough integration in the major economies of Europe and Asia, complicating the talks. US allies from Germany to South Korea are reticent to alienate China.
Former Washington sanctions advisor Anthony Ruggiero said the US could deter banks from providing further support.
“Then the administration can send messages to China ... that the US will escalate the sanctions to include targeting Chinese banks,” he said.
Washington should make China choose between access to the US financial system or aiding Russia’s war, he said.
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