In a major breaking, the United States on Monday, March 14, claimed that China was aware of Russia’s plan to invade Ukraine from beforehand.
Meanwhile, China has warned the West against harming Chinese rights and interests in any way while handling the Ukraine issue of invasion of Russia.
“China will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises and individuals,” the Spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
In an interview with a leading media group, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that China knew that Russia was planning ‘something’ before the invasion happened, though “may not have understood the full extent of it.”
Taking serious cognizance of the US’ claims, China said that any attempt to smear the country’s efforts, destroy its intention or simply slander it is neither ethical nor responsible. “Our stance is clear,” the Chinese official said in retaliation.
The Xi-Jinping led country has time and again reiterated that it has a ‘neutral stance’ on the whole issue but opposed the sanctions on Russia for Ukraine’s invasion.
China question sanctions
The spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement ‘firmly opposed’ the package of sanctions and called it ‘without any basis’ in the International law.
“Willfully wielding the stick of sanctions cannot bring peace and security, but will only affect the economy & people’s livelihood, lead to a lose-lose situation and aggravate division & confrontation,” the spokesperson said, adding that China and Russia have good energy cooperation and will continue to conduct normal trade cooperation including on oil and gas in the spirit of ‘mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit’.
Sanctions imposed by West
Since February 24, Western countries have imposed a slew of financial restrictions, including freezing the assets of Russia’s central bank, limiting its ability to access its dollar reserves. The US, UK have also banned people and businesses from dealing with Russia’s central bank, finance ministry and wealth fund. Efforts are being made to remove Russian banks Bank Otkritie, Bank Rossiya, Novikombank, Promsvyazbank, Sovcombank, VEB and VTB from the Swift messaging system, which enables the transfer of money across borders. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Kremlin-favoured oligarchs – including Igor Shuvalov and Alisher Usmanov – have also been sanctioned.
There are also new restrictions on products that can be sent to Russia, including dual-use goods – those that can have both civilian and military use – such as chemicals and lasers.