HONG KONG: Ukraine’s International Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Thursday (Jul 25) visited Hong Kong and known as on its chief John Lee to stop Russia from utilizing Hong Kong as a solution to circumvent Western sanctions imposed on Moscow for its full-scale warfare in Ukraine.
Each Hong Kong and China are seen by the US authorities as key routes for Russia to supply supplies for its navy, together with semiconductors and drone components.
“Dmytro Kuleba … known as on the Hong Kong administration to take measures to deprive Russia and Russian corporations of the chance to make use of Hong Kong to bypass restrictive measures imposed for Russian aggression in opposition to Ukraine,” the Ukrainian ministry stated in an announcement.
Based on beforehand undisclosed US Commerce Division knowledge reported by Reuters, Hong Kong stays a world sanctions evasion hotspot, though semiconductors and different restricted items shipped by means of China and Hong Kong fell by a fifth this yr.
China, the world’s second largest financial system, positions itself as neutral on the Ukraine warfare, however declared a “no limits” partnership with Russia days earlier than the 2022 invasion. It has additionally supplied it diplomatic backing and helped preserve Russia’s wartime financial system afloat.
The Hong Kong authorities has stated up to now it doesn’t implement unilateral sanctions imposed by different nations, however does implement vigorously sanctions imposed by the United Nations Safety Council, pursuant to the directions of China’s International Ministry.
Kuleba travelled to Hong Kong following more than three hours of talks together with his Chinese language counterpart Wang Yi in Guangzhou on Wednesday, which targeted on methods to place an finish to Russian full-scale warfare in Ukraine.