China objects to ‘unilateral sanctions’ in Ukraine war as EU proposes new trade curbs - Independent News

by Zhao Ziwen and Finbarr Bermingham at scmp.com

China has renewed its opposition to “unilateral sanctions” in relation to the war in Ukraine, again calling on the international community to “actively promote peace and dialogue” for a “political settlement of the crisis”.

Addressing a United Nations Security Council session on the conflict on Monday, Zhang Jun, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, took aim at Nato, saying that the alliance should “wake up from the myth of force and stop making threats and calling for war”.

He repeated Beijing’s long-standing position that it supported Kyiv and Moscow in “strengthening exchanges and resuming negotiations”.

The call comes as the European Union proposed blacklisting three mainland Chinese firms and one Hong Kong company for circumventing EU sanctions on Russia.

This week, the bloc’s 27 member states will be asked to approve the listing of three mainland Chinese entities, along with another based in Hong Kong, as part of its 13th package of sanctions on Russia, almost two years into the war, according to diplomatic sources.

Bloomberg reported that most of the two dozen companies on the proposed list are technology and electronics companies accused of “contributing to Russia’s military and technological enhancement or to the development of Russia’s defence and security sector”.

The four companies were named as mainland China-based Guangzhou Ausay Technology Co Limited, Shenzhen Biguang Trading Co Limited, Yilufa Electronics Limited, and the Hong Kong-based RG Solutions Limited in a report by Washington-backed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

It would mark the first time Chinese companies have been officially listed, although Brussels has considered targeting entities from the country before.