China’s Foreign Ministry accused the U.S. of “outright bullying” Monday after several Chinese companies were hit with sanctions for their ties to human rights abuses in Ukraine and Africa.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning argued the U.S. sanctions were “illegal,” claiming that U.S. lethal aid to Ukraine was no different from China supporting Russian forces. The U.S. sanctions are designed to target the Russian Wagner Group, a mercenary organization, but China argued the impacts on its companies “have no basis in international law or authorization from the Security Council, and are typical illegal unilateral sanctions.”
