The U.S. State Department this week sanctioned three Chinese companies it accused of aiding Iran in its war against the U.S., the latest in the back-and-forth between the two countries just days before President Donald Trump will meet with China’s leader Xi Jinping in a high-stakes confab in Beijing.
The State Department accused the firms — Meentropy Technology (Hangzhou) Co., Earth Eye and Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co. — of “providing satellite imagery that enables Iran’s military strikes against U.S. forces in the Middle East,” according to a fact sheet issued on Friday.
“The United States will continue to take action to hold China-based entities accountable for their support to Iran and ensure Iran cannot reconstitute its proliferation-sensitive programs following Operation Epic Fury,” the State Department wrote. “The targeting of U.S. service members and partners will not go unanswered.”
The timing of State’s move to sanction those Chinese firms underscores the administration’s frustration with Beijing’s public narrative of wanting to see the conflict in the Gulf end while providing ongoing assistance to Iran’s military. That includes exports of some parts essential to Tehran’s weaponized drone program, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. The sanctions will also likely boost Trump’s leverage in his meeting with Xi in which he is expected to press the Chinese leader to push Tehran toward a deal that will reopen the Strait of Hormuz to normal shipping traffic.
The administration also issued sanctions Friday against 10 other entities and individuals in countries including Belarus, Iran and the United Arab Emirates that it said are “enabling efforts by Iran’s military to secure weapons.”
The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump will depart for Beijing in just under a week, alongside a delegation of U.S. CEOs primed to stake out deals with the country’s geopolitical rival. U.S. defense officials, meanwhile, worry the taxing conflict with Iran could give Xi leverage in negotiations with Trump next week.
Friday’s penalties against China mark just the latest escalation in tensions. Last week, China’s Ministry of Commerce issued a ban on the enforcement of or compliance with separately-issued U.S. sanctions on five Chinese oil refineries accused of purchasing oil from Tehran, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency — the first such block invoked since China implemented a national policy prohibiting compliance with international measures it deems “unjustified” in 2021.
But the president has expressed confidence that he and Xi have the relationship and common ground needed to work together on the Middle East.
“That’ll be one subject,” he said in an Oval Office press conference last week. “But he’s been very nice about this. In all fairness, he gets like 60 percent of his oil from Hormuz. I think he’s been very respectful. We haven’t been challenged by China.”
