China has firmly pushed back against threats from the United States regarding new tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil. The warning came from President Donald Trump, who suggested he would raise duties on major buyers like China and India to try and starve Russia of funds for its war in Ukraine.
During recent talks with European Union officials, Trump reportedly floated the idea of imposing tariffs of between 50 and 100 percent on Russian oil buyers, but only if the EU agreed to similar measures. A US official, who spoke anonymously to Zoyols Blog, confirmed the proposal.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian was quick to condemn what he called Washington’s “economic pressure” tactics. At a press briefing, Lin said, “We firmly oppose the practice of constantly dragging China into this issue, and we firmly oppose the imposition of so-called economic pressure on China.”
He stressed that China is neither the creator of the Ukraine crisis nor a direct party to it. While Beijing has positioned itself as a neutral party, it has also repeatedly called for peace talks while criticizing Western nations for escalating the conflict by supplying weapons to Ukraine.
The strong political and economic partnership between China and Russia remains a key factor. Beijing is one of Moscow’s most important trading partners, and Russian President Vladimir Putin recently told Chinese President Xi Jinping that relations between their nations were at an “unprecedented level.”
As the US and EU continue to look for new ways to punish Moscow for its actions, the potential for further global trade tension is growing. China’s pushback against this Western pressure suggests that any new economic measures could have wide-ranging consequences far beyond the battlefield.
