China Warns Nuclear-Armed Russia Is Being Forced ‘into a Corner’ with Sanctions
'Sanctions will only harm ordinary people'
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A high-ranking Chinese government official has blasted the West’s sanctions regimen against Russia, saying the far-reaching punitive measures are “outrageous” and have only served to severely isolate Moscow.
“The sanctions against Russia are getting more and more outrageous,” Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng told a security forum in Beijing, according to Reuters.
He described that the West depriving the people of their overseas assets was ultimately “for no reason.”
“History has proven time and again that sanctions cannot solve problems,” he said.
“Sanctions will only harm ordinary people, impact the economic and financial system... and worsen the global economy," he added.
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He also added that US and EU sanctions would, in the end only escalate the situation, as Reuters continues.
He acknowledged Moscow’s point of view on NATO, saying the alliance should not further expand eastwards, forcing a nuclear power like Russia “into a corner.”
As ZeroHedge reported:
The unusually blunt Chinese reaction (given Beijing has appeared somewhat reluctant to weigh in too forcefully behind either side thus far, other than calling out NATO expansion) to the ratcheting Ukraine crisis comes the same day that Ukrainian President Zelensky’s office publicly urged Beijing to come out and condemn “Russian barbarism” in a public statement.
In a Twitter statement presidential aide Mikhailo Podolyak asserted:
“China can be the global security system’s important element if it makes a right decision to support the civilized countries’ coalition and condemn Russian barbarism.”
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It seems the implication behind the Chinese vice foreign minister’s fresh remarks might also be that if Russia is feeling pushed into a corner ...so is Beijing - given that the past week has seen the Biden administration bring China’s growing cooperation with Russia into its crosshairs, with Biden warning his counterpart Xi Jinping in a Friday call that serious “consequences” follow if Beijing is found to be supplying Moscow with military equipment to aid its operations in Ukraine.
Jake Sullivan has also this week warned against any possible Chinese help given to Russia for sanctions evasion.
China has notably failed thus far to even use the word “invasion” instead of opting for vaguer words like “crisis” - even as the assault on Ukraine enters its fourth week.
Earlier this week, Le Yucheng said the root cause of the war in Ukraine “lies in the Cold War mentality and power politics.”
The Chinese envoy said if NATO’s “enlargement goes further, it would be approaching the ‘outskirts of Moscow’ where a missile could hit the Kremlin within seven or eight minutes.”
“Pushing a major country, especially a nuclear power, to the corner would entail repercussions too dreadful to contemplate,” he said.
