China Outraged at US Sanctions for Buying Russia Arms

Russia says US using sanctions to try to monopolize arms sales

Chinese officials expressed outrage on Friday after it was announced that the US was imposing economic sanctions on a Chinese military agency and its direct for buying Russian fighter jets and air defense systems.

The US claims the Chinese Equipment Development Department was violating US sanctions by buying from the Russians, and that the new sanctions on the Chinese agency are “aimed at imposing costs on Russia.

Chinese officials say this is an unreasonable move, and are demanding that the US immediately correct its mistake, warning that there will be consequences if they don’t reverse the sanctions. The State Department notes that the Chinese made “significant” purchases of Russian equipment.

Russian officials say they believe the US is using the sanctions primarily to try to squeeze out major competitors on the international arms market. Russia in particular has made a lot of successful sales in air defenses in recent years.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.