The United States threatens to impose sanctions on Chinese banks for exporting military equipment to Russia

Hey Secretary of State Antony Blinken China is expected to warn about this Washington will take punitive measures if Beijing stops sending technology related to the defense industry to Russia.
During a visit to China next week, Blinken will tell his counterparts that the United States and its allies have become increasingly negative about… Beijing has refused to stop supplying Moscow with military technology, from semiconductors to cruise missile engines, to help rebuild its industrial base.
Blinken does not intend to reveal the steps that Washington will take. But several people familiar with the situation said it was considering sanctions on Chinese financial institutions and other entities.
This will be the clearest warning the United States has personally given to Chinese officials.
In recent weeks, the United States has intensified what…And their warnings about the situation, including in meetings with Europeans and G7 allies.
A US official said other G7 members informed Washington that they had raised or would raise the issue with China after a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Capri this week where Blinken discussed the issue.
China is increasingly concerned about the possibility of sanctions being imposed on its banks.
President Joe Biden issued an executive order in December warning foreign financial institutions that they “risk losing access to the U.S. financial system if they facilitate significant transactions related to the Russian military industrial base.”
“China has been concerned for some time that the United States might increase sanctions on China, especially in the banking area, because of its support for Russia during the war.” said Dennis Wilder, a former CIA China analyst at Georgetown University.
Four leading Chinese banks stopped accepting payments from Russia last month, according to Russian media reports, especially regarding transactions for important electronic components.
The US State Department declined to comment.
MinisterTreasury Secretary Janet Yellen raised the issue during a visit to China this month, but Blinken intends to press the issue in more tolerant terms.
Biden expressed his concerns to Chinese President Xi Jinping when the leaders spoke by phone three weeks ago.
while The United States hopes that the threat of sanctions will convince China to change course, and it is urging European countries to take similar measures.
The United States believes that European pressure is crucial, as China is concerned about the impact on its economic relations with Europe as its economy slows.
A person familiar with the deliberations said that Europe has imposed sanctions on only three Chinese entities since the Russian invasion began two years ago, compared to 100 such measures against Chinese entities by Washington.
Senior US officials last week released a list of technologies they said China was sending to Russia.
TThey said that in 2023, 90% of the semiconductors imported by Russia came from China and were used to make missiles, tanks and planes.
They said that 70% of Russia's imports of technology goods in the fourth quarter of last year came from China, and that Moscow “most likely” used them to build ballistic missiles.

www.bankingnews.gr