Amid multiple COVID-19 outbreaks in China, Ukraine-Russia war acting as additional trouble for Beijing

Beijing [China], March 15 : Ukraine-Russia war proves to be additional trouble for China, which is already facing disruptions in logistics, supply chain, and manufacturing operations due to multiple outbreaks of COVID-19.
According to Policy Research Group, if China continues to be perceived as a supporter of Russia in its aggression against Ukraine, the Western allies including the US and EU may harden their restrictions against Chinese technology companies and impose tariff and non-tariff barriers against Beijing.
US National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan has already warned Beijing of consequences for helping Moscow bypass sanctions.
Sanctions in the wake of the Russian-Ukraine conflict would have implications for Beijing as well.
Following Russia's military operation, the US and its European allies have introduced sanctions targeting several major Russian banks and high-rank Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, besides ousting Russia from the SWIFT financial system.
The Biden administration's export controls apply to goods produced in any country as long as they use US technology.
War chip makers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and the Shanghai-based Semiconductor Manufacturing Industry Corporation (SMIC) continue to rely on the US for certain components and manufacturing technology. If these entities maintain supplies to Russia, they could be cut off from US technology, reported Policy Research Group.
China, however, would also face the risk of other major technology exporters, like Japan, South Korea, and the Netherlands, "adopting Washington's tougher line." Its state-owned banks may also face problems for continuing to trade with Russia as they are still reliant on the US dollar.
Apart from this, the European Union (EU) is China's largest trading partner as it overtook the US in 2020. China's international trade is worth above USD 4 trillion and any disruption in trade due to the Russia-Ukraine war would negatively impact about USD 700 billion of Chinese trade with the EU, Policy Research Group said.
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) of China may also be negatively affected. Especially the European countries in the neighborhood of Ukraine who are members of BRI could face difficulties in BRI-related operations. These countries include Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary, besides Italy and the Baltic states.
It is further reported that an estimated 85 per cent of Chinese rail traffic to Europe transits through Belarus, which could also be adversely impacted by renewed hostilities in the region and the trade being carried out through the BRI may diminish with China losing its position as the largest trading partner of many European countries.