China not coming to Russia’s aid, US official saysReuters, WASHINGTON and BERLINChina so far does not appear to be helping Russia evade Western financial sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, but doing so would “do profound damage” to China’s reputation, a senior official from the administration of US President Joe Biden said on Saturday. “The latest signs suggest that China’s not coming to the rescue,” the official told reporters after announcing that the US and its allies agreed to impose sanctions against Russia’s central bank and disconnect key Russian banks from the SWIFT international financial transaction network. Reports that some Chinese banks have stopped issuing letters of credit for purchases of physical commodities from Russia were a positive sign, the official said. Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping talk during their meeting in Beijing on Feb. 4. Photo: APThis “suggests that, much like has been the pattern for years and years, China has tended to respect the force of US sanctions,” the official added.

Source: Taipei Times February 27, 2022 22:10 UTC