Would America dare to bring down a Chinese bank?
Janet Yellen promises sanctions for those supporting Vladimir Putin’s war
![U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen attends a press briefing in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China](https://www.economist.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=1424,quality=80,format=auto/content-assets/images/20240413_FNP001.jpg)
If any politician has the demeanour to ease tensions with Beijing, it is Janet Yellen. America’s treasury secretary comes across as a twinkly eyed professor, rather than a foreign-policy hawk. Sure enough, she used a recent trip to China, which ended on April 9th, to praise the “stronger footing” that Sino-American relations are now on compared with a year ago. Ms Yellen was not merely there to extend an olive branch, however. She also carried a warning for China’s banks: those that help “channel military or dual-use goods to Russia’s defence-industrial base expose themselves to the risk of US sanctions”.
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This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “The big stick”
Finance & economics April 13th 2024
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