This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
The European Union has proposed for the first time to target Chinese companies and individuals with visa bans and asset freezes over their dealings with Russian firms linked to Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, according to RFE/RL.
The new measures, which are laid out in a draft proposal reviewed by RFE/RL, are part of a proposed 15th sanctions package recently put forward by Brussels that aims to target six China-based companies with asset freezes and one Chinese citizen with a visa ban, among other entities.
While the EU has hit Chinese entities in the past with sanctions as part of Brussels’ effort to curtail evasion, those measures have consisted of bans that prevent EU companies from having business dealings with those firms. This proposal marks the first effort to blacklist Chinese companies or individuals with visa bans and asset freezes over helping Russia procure dual-use goods that can be used on the battlefield.
If approved, such a move would prevent individuals associated with the company from entering the EU and would freeze each firm’s EU-based funds.
The draft sanctions package comes as Russia has managed to overcome sweeping EU and U.S. technology sanctions aimed at stifling its military-industrial complex by rerouting crucial goods like microprocessors through friendly third countries or sourcing from them directly.
China, in particular, has played a leading role in boosting Russia’s economy since its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and Western officials have said that Chinese support in circumventing sanctions has had a major effect in helping Moscow on the battlefield.
The only Chinese individual proposed for a visa ban is a “Chinese businessperson” that represents a firm engaged in mainland China and Hong Kong, the draft document states, which has “infringed prohibitions against circumvention of the EU’s restrictive measures regime imposed on the Russian Federation,” including companies that are part of Russia’s military-industrial complex.
The proposed document lists 54 persons for visa bans and 29 entities for asset freezes in total, the majority of which are based in Russia and are Russian citizens.
Among the six firms based in China or Hong Kong that are proposed for asset freezes, one of them is owned by a Russian national.
The company, the draft document states, “has been the largest supplier of sanctioned microelectronic components to Russian companies since the beginning of the war of aggression against Ukraine, which are used for the fabrication of Orlan drones which are used by the Russian military in Ukraine.”
In addition to the asset freezes and visa bans, the new package also takes aim at 33 companies mostly based in Russia that are under export restrictions, but also includes firms based in China, Iran, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates.
The document also lists 44 entities as part of an effort to impose sanctions on Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet,” the term meant to refer to ships that are engaged in illegal operations for the purposes of circumventing sanctions.
The draft version of the sanctions package was first shared with EU countries on November 22 and would still need to be approved by all 27 member states in order to come into effect.
