With China and Russia growing increasingly close in recent years, China has not only condemned the world's sanctions on Russia's invasion of Ukraine as illegal, but it might just maintain a role in helping their new close trade partner overcome the sanctions.
"As far as financial sanctions are concerned, we do not approve of these, especially the unilaterally launched sanctions because they do not work well and have no legal grounds," Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, told a news conference Wednesday.
"We will not participate in such sanctions. We will continue to maintain normal economic and trade exchanges with relevant parties."
Total trade between Russia and China jumped 35.9% last year to a record $146.9 billion, according to Chinese customs data, with Russia serving as a major source of oil, gas, coal, and agriculture commodities, running a trade surplus with China.
"[Sanctions] will only create serious difficulties to the economies and livelihoods of relevant countries, and further intensify division and confrontation," China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Wednesday.
China is not just aiding Russia's invasion through "petroleum and commodity dollars; it's also providing access to an alternate financial system," far east expert Gordon Chang told host John Catsimatidis on Sunday's "The Cats Roundtable."
Chang added to Sunday's "Wake Up America" on Newsmax, "although it might have some second thoughts about what it is doing, it is still supporting the Russians to the hilt.
Wang told reporters Wednesday there is collateral damage of sanctions and countries "should not hurt the legitimate rights and interests of China."
"China and Russia will continue to conduct normal trade cooperation in the spirit of mutual respect, equality, and mutual benefit," he said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Monday that China "cannot cover what the impact of the sanctions."
"The latest signs suggest that China's not coming to the rescue," a senior Biden administration official said, warning doing so do "profound damage" for China, too.
Still, China is not shy about admitting it will not join in sanctions on Russia that have been led by the West, the country's banking regulator said Wednesday, adding he believed the impact of the measures on China would be limited.
"The impact from the sanctions on China's economy and financial sector is so far not too significant," Guo said. "Overall they will not have much impact [on China] even in the future."
There are signs China does hold some sway over Russian actions, however. Chinese officials told senior Russian officials in early February not to invade Ukraine before the end of the Winter Olympics in Beijing, The New York Times reported Wednesday, citing Biden administration officials and a European official.
The Times reported a Western intelligence report indicates senior Chinese officials had some level of knowledge about Russia's plans or intentions to invade Ukraine before it started last week.
Wang also told reporters the Chinese "seek a political solution that accommodates the legitimate security concerns of both sides."
"China will continue to play a constructive role in promoting the de-escalation of the situation in Ukraine," he added.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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