China reiterates it opposes unilateral sanctions

China said on Saturday it opposed any unilateral sanctions, particularly secondary sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction that are not based on international law, and its normal trade with Moscow should not be affected.

Wang Lutong, director-general of the Department of European Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, made the remarks at a news briefing.

"China is not a related party of the Ukraine crisis and the normal trade with any other country should not be affected," Wang said.

Wang reiterated that China always opposes the sanction and warned it risks splitting the rest of the world, which will lead to the wall of currency, wall of trade and wall of finance, and jeopardize supply and industrial chains.

"It also risks jeopardizing globalization and even the economic order established since the World War II," Wang added.

He also stressed that China is contributing to the global economy by maintaining normal trade to avoid any possible destruction of supply chains and industrial chains.

Noting both China and the EU are in favor of ceasefire as well as the political and diplomatic solution on the Ukraine issue, Wang said China is always supportive of the ceasefire and has contributed to this effort yet China's role should not be overestimated.

"The key of the Ukraine issue is not in the hands of China," he said. "It's in Washington, it's in Brussels, and it could also be in Moscow."

He questioned the purposes of the US, which, on the one hand, expressed the willingness to see a ceasefire and, on the other hand, did something otherwise like deployment of military supplies and sanctions and even talks about changing the Russian government.

"If American president calls his Russian counterpart, saying that there would be no NATO expansion and no deployment of strategy weapons, the Ukraine issue would get sorted," Wang said.

As to a full discussion between leaders of China and Ukraine, Wang said "it has always been on the agenda and it is just a matter of time".

Ukraine has always been a strategic partner of China and there are close connections between the two countries, he added.