[Forbidden News]International Financial Sanctions Against Russia and the Chinese Communist Party Reverse Current | Invasion of Ukraine | NTDTV Online

[NTDTV, Beijing time on March 04, 2022]Just as the international community increased sanctions against Russia due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the CCP moved against the current once again, announcing that it does not approve of financial sanctions against Russia, and will not participate in relevant sanctions. .

Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, said at a press conference on March 2 that the CCP does not support financial sanctions against Russia over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and will not participate in relevant sanctions.

On the same day, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin also once again claimed to oppose sanctions, saying that China and Russia will continue to carry out “normal trade cooperation”.

This is yet another CCP movement against the current, as the international community is currently stepping up its sanctions against Russia, along with sanctions against Belarus, which supported the invasion. The United States and Europe have removed some Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, preventing the Russian Central Bank from using $630 billion in international reserves. Credit card giants Mastercard and Visa also announced a few days ago that they have banned several Russian financial institutions from using their payment systems.

Although the CCP officially claims that it “does not participate in financial sanctions against Russia,” Bloomberg revealed that two large state-owned Chinese banks, the Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, have restricted trade financing for purchasing Russian commodities, especially U.S. dollar financing. The offshore arm of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has stopped issuing U.S. dollar-denominated letters of credit for the purchase of Russian commodities. Reuters reported on Monday (February 28), citing people familiar with the matter, that the Singapore branch of Bank of China has stopped financing deals involving Rosneft and Russian companies.

Diplomatic scholars have pointed out that the CCP’s strategy is very ambiguous.

Professor Li Dengke, Department of Foreign Affairs, National Chengchi University, Taiwan: “China should not clearly explain to the international community that it supports Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but it will not support the United States‘ sanctioning Russia. That is to say, he does not want to offend Russia, and also It doesn’t necessarily mean that he wants to support the United States. What should he say? A relatively balanced policy, but it is difficult to please both parties.”

Economists pointed out that when the former Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam was sanctioned by the United States, Chinese banks watched indifferently for fear of being kicked out of SWIFT and did not make a move. This time the same is true for Russia.

Li Hengqing, an economist living in the United States: “If Chinese banks are finally involved in the settlement part, then this problem will be a big problem. Neither the Export-Import Bank of China nor the Bank of China will dare to do this. After the incident, it will definitely be sanctioned by SWIFT and the international community. What about the trade between China and Russia? I think they may just set up a bookkeeping and barter.”

Due to international financial sanctions, there are problems even if the settlement between China and Russia is in renminbi and rubles.

Li Hengqing: “China and Russia signed 22 agreements on the opening day of the Olympic Games, including an agreement to expand oil and gas purchases. At that time, China proposed to use RMB for settlement, but Russia refused. Russia asked to use euros. Settlement. He knows that once he starts the war, he may be sanctioned by the EU and he will run out of euros.”

Li Dengke: “The exchange mechanism between the ruble and the renminbi has been going on for many years. But the problem is that the ruble has recently depreciated very seriously, so mainland China will not accept the Russian ruble, which creates a new challenge.”

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, the ruble has lost more than 30 percent of its value. Shares in Russia’s largest state-owned bank tumbled 95 percent on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday, trading as low as 1 cent.

Although the CCP ostensibly advocates a settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian issue through consultation, it has so far refused to call Russia’s military action against Ukraine an invasion. It also strongly opposes Western sanctions against Russia, and has recently taken actions to purchase more Russian energy and agricultural products.

Li Hengqing: “The image of the Chinese government has already suffered heavy losses in the Ukrainian-Russian war. None of the EU, the US, Canada, and the countries in the Southeast Asian Union dare to give up their arms to China again. China is in the EU. There is also a China-EU joint investment agreement, and this matter will be stranded there forever.”

At the same time, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, the CCP suddenly made a friendly gesture to the United States. The new ambassador to Australia also softened his tone, saying that Beijing is willing to “meet each other halfway” to repair China-Australia relations. The Wall Street Journal pointed out that the CCP leadership, which wants to maintain stability before the 20th National Congress, may also be reluctant to provoke further confrontation with the West, putting additional pressure on the Chinese economy.

Editor/Shang Yan interview/Luo Ya post-production/Chen Jianming

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