Placeholder when loading item promotions
The United States has accused several companies and research institutes in China of supporting the Russian military after the invasion of Ukraine began, in one of the first concrete signs that Chinese entities are allegedly helping Russia against Washington’s wishes.
The Commerce Department said it was adding five of the companies to a blacklist of traders, known as an entity list, as punishment. It also accused two Chinese research institutes, already blacklisted since 2018, of supporting Russia’s military in recent weeks. Companies that are added to the list are effectively blocked from buying US technology.
All the companies and institutes recently signed deals to continue supplying the Russian military, in violation of US-led export controls aimed at blocking Russia’s access to high-tech components and equipment, the Commerce Ministry said.
“Today’s action sends a strong message to companies and individuals around the world that the United States will cut them off as well if it tries to support Russia,” Alan Estevez, Secretary of State for Commerce, Industry and Security, said in a statement .
Exports from China to Russia are collapsing, a study shows
As soon as Russia invaded on February 24, the US and 37 allies hit back with coordinated export controls aimed at depriving Russia’s military and high-tech industries of semiconductors, electronics and other vital components. China, a major manufacturer and technology exporter to Russia, did not join the blockade, leaving Western officials concerned that Beijing could continue or even increase supplies to Russia — something the United States has been trying to prevent by threatening to Stop technology shipments to China if it were.
In recent weeks, US officials said they had seen no “systematic efforts” by China to help Russia evade Western sanctions, despite the “borderless” partnership declared by leaders Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin in February. Meanwhile, trade data released this week showed that China’s exports to Russia fell sharply after the war began.
But recent action by the Department of Commerce suggests some tech trading will continue.
The agency did not say what kind of goods the companies had agreed to supply to Russia’s military. But several of the newly blacklisted companies with operations in China appear to be selling electronics.
The US is investigating how American electronics got into Russian military equipment
These are Connec Electronic Ltd., King Pai Technology Co., Sinno Electronics, Winninc Electronic and World Jetta, a logistics company. Three of them also have offices in other countries – Russia, Vietnam, Lithuania and the UK, the Commerce Ministry said. But it called them units with “essential/primary operations in China”.
The companies that have been blacklisted since 2018 for allegedly “illegally procuring” technology for China’s military are the 13th research institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation and its subsidiary Micro Electronic Technology in China, the Commerce Ministry said. Both are units of the state arms company CETC.
The companies could not immediately be reached for comment.
China’s embassy in Washington denied that the country supported Russia’s military. “China’s position on the Ukraine issue is consistent and clear,” it said in a statement. “We have played a constructive role in promoting peace talks and have not provided military assistance to the parties to the conflict.”
The statement added, “China and Russia maintain normal energy and trade cooperation, and the legitimate interests of Chinese companies should not be harmed.” It said sanctions such as the Entity List “violated international law and fundamental norms regulating international relations “.
A marginal producer of electronics and computer chips, Russia has long relied on imports, making it vulnerable to trade blockades.
Recent dissections of Russian drones, tanks and other equipment recovered in Ukraine have revealed a range of Western electronics inside. That has prompted US federal agents to question US tech companies about how their computer chips got into Russian equipment.