US Not Considering Lifting Sanctions on China’s Defense Minister: Official

The State Department appears to walk back Biden's remarks at the G-7 summit

China's Defense Minister Gen. Li Shangfu (third from left) is among senior Chinese Communist Party officials sworn into their new offices during a National People's Congress in Beijing on March 12, 2023. Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images

The United States has no intentions of lifting the sanctions imposed on Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu, a State Department spokesperson said on May 22.

The spokesperson’s comments seem to retract those made by President Joe Biden during the G-7 leaders’ summit in Japan on May 21, when he said the idea of easing Li’s sanctions was “under negotiation right now.”