China urges US to drop sanctions on companies

Beijing has urged Washington to stop spreading disinformation and revoke sanctions against Chinese enterprises, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Monday, warning that China will resolutely respond to the United States' "erroneous behavior".

Her remarks came after the US sanctioned on Friday more companies from China, Russia and other nations it accuses of supporting the Russian military.

Addressing a daily news briefing, Mao said the US sanctions, which are not based on international laws and do not have the mandate of the United Nations Security Council, are "typical examples of illegal, unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction".

"China strongly deplores and rejects such actions that severely harm its interests," she said, adding that Beijing has lodged a stern demarche with Washington on the matter.

On the Ukraine crisis, Mao said that China upholds an objective and fair stance, and stays actively committed to promoting peace talks.

On the contrary, she pointed out, the US is continuously "fanning the flames and adding fuel to the fire". On Friday, which marked the one-year anniversary of the conflict, China released a paper stating its position on the political settlement of the issue, she said.

Since the conflict started, the US has provided Ukraine with over $32 billion worth of military aid, including large quantities of advanced armaments. Just days ago, it announced yet another tranche of military aid for Ukraine worth $2 billion, according to the Foreign Ministry.

While doubling its efforts to send weapons to one party in the conflict, which is "only prolonging the fighting and making peace elusive", the US is also spreading false information that China is providing weapons for Russia, and exploiting that allegation to slap sanctions on Chinese firms, Mao said.

"Such acts constitute blatant bullying behavior, and reflect the US' double standards and hypocrisy," she said. "It is not hard to see who is committed to promoting peace talks and is working to de-escalate the situation, and who is adding fuel to the fire and intensifying instability."

Mao urged Washington to reflect on itself and facilitate peace talks to resolve the Ukraine crisis and serve the common interests of all countries.

She demanded that the US revoke its sanctions against Chinese enterprises, emphasizing that China will continue to take necessary measures to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of these firms.

In response to Washington's warning that Beijing's "lethal aid" to Moscow would "come at real costs", Mao said, "The US has no right to point fingers at Sino-Russian relations, and China will not accept US' coercion and suppression."

She slammed the US for constantly sending lethal weapons to the battlefield in Ukraine, as well as selling sophisticated arms to the Taiwan region in violation of stipulations of the three China-US joint communiques.

"What exactly is the US trying to do?" Mao said, urging Washington to give the international community an explanation.

zhaojia@chinadaily.com.cn