U.S. Sanctions China for Purchasing Russian Warheads

The United States imposed sanctions on China on Thursday for buying fighter jets and missile systems from Russia, which violates the U.S. sanctions law punishing Moscow for their alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

The sanctions were specifically imposed under a law requiring the government to sanction any individual or entity engaging in significant transactions with members of the Russian intelligence and military services.

Announcing the decision, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also added 33 additional people to the list of sanctioned Russian military actors:

First, the Secretary of State added 33 additional persons – a person is either an entity or an individual – to the CAATSA section 231 List of Specified Persons (LSP) for being a part of, or operating for or on behalf of, the defense or intelligence sectors of the Government of the Russian Federation. This action increases the number of persons identified on the LSP to 72. Any person who knowingly engages in a significant transaction with any of these persons is subject to mandatory sanctions under CAATSA section 231.

Second, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of State imposed sanctions on the Chinese entity Equipment Development Department (EDD) and its director, Li Shangfu, for engaging in significant transactions with persons on the LSP. These transactions involved Russia’s transfer to China of Su-35 combat aircraft and S-400 surface-to-air missile system-related equipment.

The statement added that the move was “not intended to undermine the military capabilities or combat readiness of any country, but rather to impose costs on Russia in response to its interference in the United States election process, its unacceptable behavior in eastern Ukraine, and other malign activities.”

The move immediately drew condemnation from Beijing at a time where relations are already under strain due to the Trump administration’s placing of tariffs on Chinese products. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a press briefing on Friday that the U.S. must withdraw the sanctions or “bear responsibility for the consequences.”

“China expresses strong indignation at these unreasonable actions by the US side and has already lodged stern representations,” Geng said. “We strongly urge the US side to immediately correct the mistake and rescind the so-called sanctions, otherwise the US side will necessarily bear responsibility for the consequences.”

The sanctions are also intended as a warning to Turkey, which recently ordered $2.5 billion worth of S-400 missiles from Moscow amid warming relations between leaders Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin.

The military alliance between China and Russia was on show this month, as Russia’s held their largest military exercise since the end of the Cold War, with a large number of Chinese and Mongolian troops participating.

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