U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Chinese Companies for Aiding Russia's War Effort

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May 1

The Biden administration on Wednesday announced nearly 300 new sanctions on international suppliers of military equipment technology that the administration said have been helping Russia restock its arsenal as it carries out the war in Ukraine.

The sanctions represent a broadening of U.S. efforts to disrupt Russia's military industrial complex supply chain. They include more than a dozen targets based in China, which the United States says has increasingly been helping Russia arm itself. The Biden administration has expressed growing alarm about the weapons technology alliance between China and Russia. Top U.S. officials have voiced those concerns to their Chinese counterparts in recent weeks.

"Today's actions will further disrupt and degrade Russia's war efforts by going after its military industrial base and the evasion networks that help supply it," Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said in a statement on Wednesday.

The sanctions follow Ms. Yellen's trip last month to China, where she confronted Chinese officials over support for Russia. She warned them that Chinese companies and financial institutions that facilitate support for the Kremlin's war effort would face penalties. The Treasury secretary said her counterparts told her that China had a policy of not providing Russia with military aid.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken expressed similar concerns to China during a separate visit last week.

"Russia would struggle to sustain its assault on Ukraine without China's support," Mr. Blinken said at the conclusion of his trip. "I made clear that if China does not address this problem, we will."

The Chinese companies that are facing sanctions are accused by the Treasury Department of providing Russia with infrared detectors, components for Russian drones and pressure sensors used in Russian missiles.

The sanctions, which were coordinated with the State Department, also include targets based in Azerbaijan, Belgium, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Several Russian companies and individuals associated with Moscow's procurement of materials for its chemical and biological weapons programs were also hit with sanctions, along with Russian importers of cotton cellulose and nitrocellulose, which the country uses to produce gunpowder and rocket propellants.

The Treasury Department is hopeful that the sanctions will have greater impact after President Biden signed an executive order last year that gave the United States authority to crack down on banks and financial services firms that are helping Russia evade strict sanctions on access to military technology and equipment.