Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends a press conference in Beijing, China, on March 7, 2022.
Lee Shen | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that Beijing wants to avoid being affected by US sanctions Russia’s war with Ukraine.
“China is not a party to the crisis and does not want sanctions to affect China,” Wang said. He said On Monday, during a telephone conversation with his Spanish counterpart, Jose Manuel Paris, to discuss the crisis in Ukraine.
“China has the right to protect its legitimate rights and interests.”
His comments are seen as one of Beijing’s most outspoken to date about the unprecedented barrage of international sanctions against Russia’s corporate and financial system. These measures came in response to the Kremlin’s large-scale attack on Ukraine, which began on February 24.
The White House has warned China not to provide an economic lifeline to Russia as the Kremlin steps up its attack on Ukraine. The United States says it fears that China, a key strategic ally of Moscow, will seek to mitigate the impact of the measures Designed to destroy the Russian economy If the war continues.
There are fears among market participants That Chinese companies could soon be embroiled in financial fines following reports that Moscow has asked Beijing for help to support its invasion of Ukraine.
China denied the reports, while Russia said it had not requested military assistance from Beijing.
Since Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Beijing refused to call it an invasion He said China will maintain normal trade with the two countries. China has not joined the sanctions of the United States, the European Union and other countries on Russia.
But China said it was “deeply concerned” about the crisis in Ukraine.
‘Intensive’ conversations
Officials from the United States and China met on Monday to discuss a range of bilateral issues, including Russia’s war with Ukraine. The talks, which were held in Rome, Italy, lasted for seven hours and were described as “IntenseBy a senior administrative official.
The United States has warned of the consequences for any country providing support to Russia amid the Kremlin’s war with Ukraine.
“We are closely watching how far the People’s Republic of China has come,” he added [People’s Republic of China] Or any country in the world that provides material, economic, financial, rhetorical or otherwise, support to this war of the choice of the President [Vladimir] State Department spokesman Ned Price said at a press briefing on Monday that Putin is waging against the government of Ukraine, against the state of Ukraine and the people of Ukraine.
“We’ve been very clear with Beijing and public with Beijing that there will be consequences for any such support,” Price said.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Sunday that the Kremlin is counting on China to help it weather the fallout from global economic measures imposed on Moscow. Reuters reported.
Speaking with Spaniard Alparis, China’s Wang reiterated Beijing’s long-held position of opposing unilateral sanctions outside the United Nations.
“China always opposes the use of sanctions to solve problems, and even more strongly opposes unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law, which will undermine international norms and harm people’s livelihood in all countries,” Wang said.
CNBC’s Amanda Macias and Wizen Tan contributed to this report.
