BERLIN (Reuters) – Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Tuesday that Beijing would maintain lines of communication with all parties to the war in Ukraine, including Germany, in seeking a ceasefire.
“As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and responsible major country, China will neither watch the fire from the other bank nor add fuel to the fire,” Qin said alongside German counterpart Annalena Baerbock during a visit to Berlin.
Commenting on a European Union proposal to blacklist several Chinese companies as part of a new package of sanctions against Russia, Qin said Beijing “firmly opposes some countries in using their so-called laws to impose long-arm jurisdiction and unilateral sanctions on other countries, including China.
“China will make necessary responses and resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and legitimate interests of Chinese enterprises,” Qin said.
The EU’s executive has proposed blacklisting Chinese companies and curbing exports to nations seen as involved in bypassing Russia trade restrictions under the latest set of sanctions against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
Baerbock said that negotiations on the new package of sanctions were ongoing, but that generally it was important to prevent Russian defence companies “from gaining access to war-relevant goods”, and to ensure “that sanctioned dual-use goods don’t fall into the wrong hands”.
Diplomatic sources have told Reuters the EU executive’s proposal focuses on combating circumvention of existing trade restrictions through third countries, after the EU identified China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates as well as countries in central Asia and the Caucasus as potential culprits.
Germany itself is increasingly wary of China as a strategic rival as well as its largest trading partner, and has considered a series of measures as it reassesses bilateral relations.
(Reporting by Ryan Woo, Alexander Ratz and Rachel More, Writing by Friederike Heine, Editing by Miranda Murray and Mark Heinrich)
