China will firmly respond with counter measures if the US moves to implement sanctions on Chinese companies or individuals under the pretext of the Russia-Ukraine military conflict, which some US government officials have threatened, China’s Foreign Ministry said.

"The US can't impose the so-called sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction on Chinese companies or individuals when dealing with its relation with Russia. The US has no reason to harm China's legitimate rights, otherwise China will be forced to answer with strong and resolute response,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said on Thursday.

Zhao added that it is clear that sanctions can never effectively solve any problems, and will only cause new problems to come up. 

According to a report by the New York Times, a US government official said that the Biden administration may choose to cut off SMIC and other Chinese chip makers’ access to the US equipment and software, “if they violate the US ban on Russian access to semiconductors.”

Ma Jihua, a veteran technology analyst, told the Global Times that the US' threats to sanction Chinese companies are likely to be "threats" only, as such sanctioning actions would inflict harm on the US economy too if they are implemented. 

"If the US extends sanctions to Chinese mobile phone companies that use US chips, it means a severe blow to most of US tech company's downstream clients as Chinese customers account for a significant proportion of their revenues," Ma said.

Chinese officials have repeatedly said that China will continue to carry out normal trade and economic cooperation with Russia, and China resolutely opposes the use of illegal unilateral sanctions which will bring difficulties to people's livelihood while aggravating divisions and confrontation. 

Global Times