Update: FM summons US ambassador to protest military sanctions

The Chinese Foreign Ministry summoned the US ambassador in protest against US sanctions on the equipment development department of the Chinese military and its director.


The Chinese military expressed strong indignation and opposition to US sanctions on the equipment development department of the Chinese military and its director, according to a military spokesman.

The US State Department said on Thursday that it would immediately impose sanctions on the equipment development department of the Chinese military and its director, Li Shangfu, for engaging in "significant transactions" with Rosoboronexport, Russia's main arms exporter, according to Reuters.

The United States said China's armed forces had violated the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, a US law imposing sanctions in part to punish Moscow for activities including what the US State Department called Russia's "interference" in US elections.

Wu Qian, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, said that the military cooperation between China and Russia is within the normal range of cooperation between sovereign states in accordance with international laws, and the US has no right to interfere.

The US moves trampled on the basic norms of international relations in a full embodiment of hegemonism, seriously damaging relations between the two countries and their armies, he said.

The Chinese military urged the US to correct its mistake and withdraw sanctions, or bear the consequences, he said.