China is Putin’s Arsenal and ATM. Shut Both Down

Curtis, Shaheen call for forceful implementation of new sanctions law targeting Beijing’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine WASHINGTON —U.S. Senators John Curtis (R-UT), member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC), and SFRC Ranking Member Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) authored a joint Fox News opinion piece calling for the United States to use newly enacted sanctions authorities to confront China’s role in sustaining Russia’s war against Ukraine. “Russia is pulling the trigger, but China is forging the bullets and filling the war chest,” the senators wrote . “Beijing cannot claim to be a neutral arbiter of peace while functioning as the quartermaster and cash register for Vladimir Putin’s war.” In the piece, the senators highlight China’s extensive military and financial support for Moscow. Beijing supplies more than 90 percent of the dual-use tools and components Russia needs to manufacture artillery shells, glide bombs, and attack drones. China has also become the largest purchaser of Russian fossil fuels, providing Moscow with billions of dollars in revenue that helps sustain its war effort. Curtis and Shaheen argue that the recently enacted Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act gives the Trump Administration powerful new tools to impose costs on those enabling Russia’s war, including major purchasers of Russian energy, financial intermediaries facilitating illicit transactions, and the shadow fleet supporting Russia’s energy exports. The Senators point to previous instances in which the threat of U.S. secondary sanctions prompted major Chinese banks to restrict transactions with Russia, arguing that access to American and Western financial markets provides the United States with significant economic leverage over Beijing. “Peace will not be achieved through wishful thinking. It will be secured when the price of enabling aggression becomes too high for Beijing to pay,” the senators conclude . The full piece is available here .