China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi has rejected the United States' call on G7 countries to levy tariffs on nations purchasing Russian oil, emphasizing that war cannot solve global problems and that "sanctions only make them more complicated.
In an unmistakable reaction to a call for unified sanctions by US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Wang stated, "China does not participate in or plan wars, and what China does is to encourage peace talks and promote political settlement of hotspot issues through dialogue."
The US Treasury Department explained in a statement on Saturday that Bessent, in a phone call with G7 finance ministers, repeated the message of President Donald Trump that the G7 needs to act as a group. He urged them that "if they are seriously concerned to put an end to the war in Ukraine, they should join the US in leveling tariffs on nations importing oil from Russia."
Addressing alongside Slovenian Foreign Minister Tanja Fajon, Wang characterized China as "China is a responsible major country and also a country with the best record on peace and security issues," He reaffirmed, "War cannot solve problems, and sanctions will only complicate them," reinforcing Beijing's position that issues must be resolved through dialogue and consultation, according to state-run Xinhua.
Whereas Bessent's comments did not target certain countries, India and China have been repeatedly accused by the US of keeping Moscow's oil revenues intact by continuing to purchase Russian oil even when no tariffs were imposed on Chinese imports to date.
“Only with a unified effort that cuts off the revenues funding (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s war machine at the source will we be able to apply sufficient economic pressure to end the senseless killing,” Bessent said.
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