BEIJING: China warned the European Union on Wednesday against sanctioning its companies, after Brussels proposed a fresh wave of measures over Beijing's support for Russia in its war with Ukraine. The EU's latest sanctions since Moscow's 2022 attack on Ukraine seek, among other aims, to complicate commercial activities by companies in third countries that allegedly support the Russian military.
The 27-member bloc has previously implemented measures targeting Chinese firms for their alleged support for Russia's military industrial complex.
The sanctions must be debated and unanimously approved by the EU's 27 member states to come into force. Officials said that the measures include adding 14 companies from mainland China and Hong Kong to a list of firms banned from buying EU goods.
Asked about the proposed sanctions, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said that Beijing "has always firmly opposed illegal unilateral sanctions that lack basis in international law". "China has several times lodged serious representations with the European side, urging it to correct its wrong practices," Lin told a regular news conference. He warned that China will "closely follow" developments and "take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests", without providing further detail.
Particularly sensitive is Moscow's drone technology, which has played a crucial role in the Russia-Ukraine war — now in its fifth year. Chinese firms dominate the global market for civilian drones, though a grey area for some products with potential military uses presents hurdles for the enforcement of export controls. Beijing presents itself as a neutral party in the Ukraine war and says it is not sending lethal assistance to either side. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on social media on Tuesday that "brick by brick, we are collapsing the foundations of Russia's war economy". The latest package marks "the largest set of listings in over two years... notably on the financial sector, energy and drones' production", she wrote.
Meanwhile, Kyiv struck a Russian military facility several hundred miles east of Moscow with Ukrainian-produced missiles overnight, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday, marking a rare deployment of his country's flagship weapon. It was the latest in an increasing number of strikes on Russian territory carried out by Kyiv, more than four years into Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine. "Last night, Ukrainian FP-5 Flamingos struck a military plant in Cheboksary that supplies the occupier's army with components for drones and missiles," Zelensky said.
He published footage purporting to show a missile flying toward its target, and plumes of smoke rising over Russian facilities. Cheboksary is the main city in Russia's central Chuvashia region, located 1,000 kilometres away from the Ukrainian border. The regional governor, Oleg Nikolayev, confirmed the city had been hit. — AFP
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