FILE PHOTO: U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo speaks at the Royal United Services Institute in London
Reuters: Deputy U.S. Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said on Friday that Washington and the European Union must deliver a message to China that its firms face a choice between doing business with U.S. and EU economies or equipping Russia with dual-use goods.
It had to be made clear that "Chinese firms can either do business in our economies or they can equip Russia's war machinery with dual-use goods. They can't continue to do both," he said in a speech on a visit to Berlin.
Adeyemo said every country in the coalition that imposed sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine and every country in NATO must communicate to Beijing that it is unacceptable for China to abet Russia's military-industrial base.
"Let's make clear to Chinese companies that we are all prepared to use our sanctions and export controls to hold them accountable," he said.
President Joe Biden's administration has stepped up messaging about China's support for Russia and issued an executive order in December that threatened sanctions on financial institutions helping Moscow skirt Western sanctions.
Russia last year imported $5.2 billion worth of sensitive, dual-use goods - which can be used for both civil and military purposes - from China-based suppliers, Adeyemo said, marking an increase of more than 40%.
President Vladimir Putin has the capacity to prop up Russia's war economy for years, he said.
"No other country, despite what China would tell us, has the capacity to supply Russia with the quantity of machine tools, microelectronics, engine parts and other goods the Kremlin needs to build its weapons of choice," he said.
"Beijing may not be sending tanks and missiles to Russia but the Kremlin cannot produce these weapons at scale or continue its war without assistance from companies and financial institutions in China."
Adeyemo warned that failing to convince China to stop selling dual-use goods to Russia poses a significant threat to Europe's national security, adding that Putin was confident that he could challenge NATO.
Many of the goods from coalition countries still being found in Russian military equipment are largely being transhipped through China, he said.
Adeyemo's warning comes after U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell on Wednesday accused China's leadership of supporting Russia's war in Ukraine and warned that Beijing could face further sanctions in response.
On Tuesday, White House Deputy National Security Adviser for International Economics Daleep Singh said the U.S. and its partners were prepared to use sanctions and export controls to prevent China-Russia trade that threatens their security.
-
- In World
- 1 June 2024 09:31
In World
-
Computer systems failed across the globe on Friday, taking down services at airlines, banks and the London Stock Exchange after a widely used cybersecurity program crashed and Microsoft Corp. separately reported problems with its cloud services.
-
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday that Armenia's tilt towards NATO was a cause for regret and concern, and said Yerevan's actions risked destabilising the wider South Caucasus region.
-
A large, long-range drone hit the centre of Tel Aviv in the early hours of Friday, in an attack claimed by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia that killed one man and slightly wounding four others, the Israeli military and emergency services said.
-
Chinese investors sold a record amount of US stocks and bonds in May as diplomatic tensions remained elevated between the world’s largest economies.
Leave a review