UK Labour Party peer calls for secondary sanctions on China for Russia support
A Labour Party peer in Britain’s House of Lords noted that ‘secondary sanctions can have a huge impact on China,’ as he called for pressure on Beijing for its support of Russia.
‘There is no doubt that, in economic terms, Russia can keep going the way it is because of support from China,’ Alan West said in a 3 September debate on Ukraine in the House of Lords.
‘Secondary sanctions can have a huge impact on China, which is in a very poor position in terms of the amount it produces relative to what it consumes. Are we looking closely at these secondary sanctions, as they apply to China, to try to have some effect on that financial flow?’ he asked junior Foreign Office minister Jenny Chapman.
Answering a question on whether secondary sanctions are an option with regard to countries that are facilitating Russia’s so-called ‘shadow fleet’ of tankers to evade sanctions on Russian, Chapman noted, ‘The UK has so far sanctioned 15 ships of the Russian shadow fleet, which is enabling Russia to evade international sanctions.’
The United States accuses China of supplying dual-use goods to Russia for its war in Ukraine, but Beijing admits only to carrying on ‘normal trade,’ warning that should not be interfered with.
