Japan considers sanctioning Chinese firms for alleged Russia supply
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Sources tell the Japanese state broadcaster that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida may suggest the measures at the G7 summit in Italy due to take place on Thursday.
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Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrives for a meeting at his office in Tokyo Monday, June 10, 2024. (AP)
Companies in third countries, including China, may be sanctioned by Japan for allegedly being involved in the supply of materials to Russia for military purposes, Japanese broadcaster NHK reported on Wednesday, citing sources close to the government.
Sources told the broadcaster that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida may suggest the measures to the G7 countries at the summit due to take place in Italy on Thursday. In case the sanctions are imposed, it would be Japan's first time sanctioning Chinese companies for alleged supplies to Russia.
This comes amid Western media reporting that G7 countries intend to crack down on smaller Chinese banks during the summit in Italy for the same reason.
However, other media reported that neither the G7 nor the United States are likely to impose any of these measures during the summit, and warnings will reportedly not apply to larger Chinese banks.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian responded on Tuesday that third parties should not interfere with or undermine China's economic ties with Russia.
No evidence found
The group's meeting is set to take place between June 13-15 in Italy's Apulia.
In the upcoming summit, US President Joe Biden seeks to convince the bloc's leaders to support a scheme that could generate up to $50 billion in loans for Ukraine to finance its war efforts by seizing interests out of Russia's sovereign frozen assets in the West – which amount to around $280 billion, most of which trapped in European financial institutions.
China is not supplying weapons to Russia or Ukraine and strictly controls exports of dual-purpose goods, Defense Minister Dong Jun stressed during the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue forum.
The minister said, "We have never supplied weapons to either party in the conflict. We have established strict control over exports of dual-purpose and never did anything that could fire up the situation," adding that China holds a reliable position on the Ukrainian issue and supports peace talks.
Last week, the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the European Union has no evidence that China is arming Russia amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
"China has committed not to supply arms and we do not have evidence that this is happening," the senior EU official said at IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
