China Signals Continued Support for Russian War Efforts Following EU Sanctions

Local residents walk around their multi-story building damaged by the explosion of a drone strike in Kyiv, on Oct. 30, 2024. Anatolii Stepanov/AFP via Getty Images

The Chinese communist regime on Dec. 17 said that it would continue cooperating with Russia, following the European Union’s blacklisting of multiple individuals and entities that allegedly aid Moscow’s war efforts.

The European Council, the institution that defines the general political direction and priorities of the European Union (EU), on Dec. 16 rolled out a new set of sanctions against Russia over the ongoing war in Ukraine. The package, representing the 15th round of such measures, includes sanctions against North Korea’s defense minister, as well as seven individuals and entities from China.

“The normal exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and Russian enterprises should not be disrupted or influenced,” Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at a briefing in Beijing. The regime would “take the necessary measures to resolutely protect the proper and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises,” she said.

The European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, said in a statement that the move marked the first time that fully-fledged sanctions—including travel bans and asset freezes—have been imposed on Chinese actors.

“The Commission welcomes the Council’s adoption of the 15th sanctions package against Russia,” the commission stated. “The focus of this package is to keep cracking down on Russia’s shadow fleet, as well as combating sanctions’ circumvention.”

Among those sanctioned, one individual and two entities were targeted for allegedly helping to bypass the bloc’s sanctions. Four companies in mainland China and Hong Kong were added to the blacklist for allegedly supplying “sensitive drone components and microelectronic component” to support the Russian defense industry.

Kaja Kallas, the EU’s newly-appointed foreign policy chief, said this action sent a message: “Helping Russia in this war also has a cost for China.”

“We have to be very clear on this, because we should not make the mistake that we have done with Russia,” Kallas told reporters following the meeting of the EU’s foreign ministers in Brussels.

Kallas mentioned that during a visit to Ukraine, she heard that the satellites for the Russian drones “are provided by the Chinese.”

“I have not checked whether it is true, but this is what the Ukrainians are saying,” Kallas said. “So, I think we need to work with that, to be very clear that having this role in the war, or helping to wage the war, has a price for those who are helping [with] this.”

Among those now on the EU’s blacklist is Li Xiaocui, a Chinese businessperson linked to multiple companies in China and Hong Kong. The EU accused Li of exporting goods to the Unimatik, a major player in Russia’s defense sector that has been sanctioned, according to the list published in the EU’s Official Journal.

Li’s companies, Shijiazhuang Hanqiang Technology Co.—a rock wool machinery manufacturer based in the northern Chinese province of Hebei—and ARCLM International Trading Co. Ltd, located in Hong Kong, were also included in the sanctions list.

Joining them on the blacklist is Asia Pacific Links Ltd., a Hong Kong-based company that was identified by the EU as “the largest supplier of microelectronic components to Russian companies” since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine began. Such components were allegedly being used in manufacturing “Orlan drones” for the Russian military, according to the EU journal.

Three other Chinese firms named in the latest sanctions package were Juhang Aviation Technology Shenzhen Co. Limited, Redlepus TSK Vektor Industrial (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd, and Xiamen Limbach Aviation Engine Co., Ltd,  a drone engine manufacturer. They were accused of channeling supplies through an intermediary to a subsidiary of Almaz-Antey, a state-owned Russian arms manufacturer, with components allegedly used to produce long-range attack drones for the war effort.

The EU’s decision to impose sanctions on Chinese actors was welcomed by some European lawmakers.

Slovak lawmaker Miriam Lexmann said in a post on X that the Chinese regime has been given “plenty of opportunity to stop enabling the Russian aggression against Ukraine,” calling the EU sanctions a “limited but nevertheless an important move.”

Engin Eroglu, a member of the European Parliament (MEP), applauded the move as “right and important.”

“A systemic rival poses systemic risks, and the EU needs to prepare for them. The EU should now move quickly in other areas too, such as the review of [foreign direct investment] screening or export controls,” Eroglu said in a statement on X.