"US Requests Allies to Join Sanctions on China Amid Russia Support"

The U.S. government has reportedly established a policy to impose strong sanctions if China crosses the 'red line' of providing weapons to Russia and has begun seeking support from its allies.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to major foreign media on the 1st (local time), the U.S. government is preparing sanctions against China in anticipation of such a situation. It is reported that the U.S. is urging support mainly from the Group of Seven (G7) member countries. In particular, foreign media reported that the U.S. is building a sanctions framework together with countries that have been most proactive in imposing sanctions on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in February last year.

However, it is known that no agreement has yet been reached with allies regarding the possibility of sanctions against China. The U.S. plans to first gauge the willingness of its allies to cooperate on sanctions against China and then proceed to specifically assess the situation if weapons are transferred from China to Russia.

Earlier, U.S. President Joe Biden urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to refrain from military support to Russia during the U.S.-China summit held in Indonesia in November last year. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also warned Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Germany last month not to provide military support to Russia.

Currently, Russia is facing disruptions in weapons supply due to the prolonged war in Ukraine and Western economic sanctions. It is reported that there is significant concern that if China provides military support to Russia in this situation, Western sanctions against Russia could be undermined. However, China has completely denied claims of providing weapons to Russia.

The U.S. is said to have already secured willingness to participate in sanctions against China from some allies. On the 24th of last month, the G7 warned in a statement that "third countries will face serious consequences if they do not stop supporting Russia's war materials." However, countries with high economic dependence on China, including South Korea, may find the U.S. demands quite burdensome. Foreign media pointed out that South Korea and Germany are among the countries that are passive in containing China.

Some argue that the pressure should be increased to force China to choose between supporting Russia or being excluded from the U.S. financial system.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.