The US government has imposed sanctions on a Chinese military department following its procurement of fighter jets and surface-to-air missiles from Russia. The state department, however, clarified that the punitive action from Washington is directed to Moscow and not to Beijing nor to its military unit. Furthermore, Russian officials assured that the deal with the Asian nation will push through regardless of what the White House has to say.
Washington, on Thursday, announced that it will slap sanctions against a key Chinese military agency for opting to purchase defense equipment from Russia - a move from the Asian nation which purportedly violated the US sanctions bill previously imposed on Russia, a CNBC report said.
The US State Department said that the point of interest in this latest round of political measures is China's Equipment Development Department (EDD). The agency, which was founded two years ago by President Xi Jinping, is the one held responsible for the development of the country's defense capabilities.
EDD reportedly engaged in a procurement transaction with Rosoboronexport, one of the major arms export firms in Russia.
The transactions, as further detailed over at South China Morning Post, involved China's purchase of the Russian Su-35 combat planes and several S-400 SA missiles and its system-related equipment. The deal was made on August 2017.
December of last year was when China received the 10 Russian Sukhhoi aircraft as well as the initial batch of the ballistic missiles which came later.
Affected Parties
The sanctions incurred by EDD, which is part of China's much larger Ministry of Defense, will affect the agency itself and its head of operations, Li Shangfu. Both concerned parties are now reportedly added to a certain Blocked Persons List by the US, a BBC report revealed.
However, the SCMP report clarified that this may not be the case at all since the main target of this policy is Russia, and not China or any agencies under its armed forces.
An official from the State Department who wished to remain unknown said during a conference call that Washington is actually setting its eyes on Kremlin for several reasons like its alleged involvement in the 2016 US Presidential Election debacle, the military offensive it took part in Syria's Idlib campaign, as well as its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
Russia, on its part, responded with a statement indicating the former Soviet Union's commitment to the purchasing deal it made with China.
A Russian parliament member, in particular, reiterated the importance of the military equipment to the Asian powerhouse, a fact that shouldn't be undermined by any sanctions.
