China has condemned the recently announce EU sanctions on several firms that had dealings with Russia via sanctioned Russian companies. China was reported to have called the move unjustified and harmful to bilateral relations.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a press conference that China “strongly deplores and firmly rejects” the EU’s decision to impose restrictions on 12 Chinese and three Indian firms allegedly linked to Russian drone production. Mr Guo said China has lodged formal protests with the EU, stressing that “China did not create the Ukraine crisis, nor is China a party to it.”
Guo added that that China did not supply lethal weapons and strictly controlled its exports of dual-use items. He noted that most countries, including EU members and the US, continued to trade with Russia. He said the EU has no grounds to criticize normal exchanges between Chinese and Russian companies.
Guo warned that the sanctions were detrimental to the sound and stable development of China-EU relations.