China does not want to be ‘affected’ by Russia sanctions: foreign minister

Beijing, March 15 (AFP/APP): China’s foreign minister has said his nation does not want to be impacted by Western economic sanctions on Russia, state media reported Tuesday, as pressure grows on Beijing to withdraw support from an isolated Moscow.

“China is not a party to the crisis, still less wants to be affected by the sanctions,” Wang Yi said, according to a rea
dout of a phone call with his Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Albares published on Tuesday.

China has “always opposed using sanctions to solve problems, let alone unilateral sanctions that has no basis in international law, which will… harm people’s livelihood in all countries”, Wang said according to the readout.

Wang’s comments were published after a seven-hour meeting between high-ranking US and Chinese officials in Rome, at which Washington said the US had expressed concern about “alignment” between Russia and China.