The US has imposed sanctions on the Chinese military for purchasing Russian military jets and surface-to-air missiles.
It says such purchases contravene US sanctions on Moscow introduced in response to Russian actions in Ukraine and alleged inference in US politics.
China recently bought 10 Russian Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets and S-400 missiles.
Beijing has not joined in the sanctions imposed on Moscow by the US and its Western allies since 2014.
Its forces took part in giant Russian war games held earlier this month.
Relations between the US and Russia deteriorated rapidly after Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.
Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 American presidential election and military involvement in Syria’s ongoing civil war increased tensions.
China’s Equipment Development Department (EDD) and its head, Li Shangfu, are sanctioned for completing “significant transactions” with Russia’s state arms exporter, Rosoboronexport.
The EDD and Mr. Li have been added to a Blocked Persons List, meaning any assets they hold in the US are frozen and Americans are “generally prohibited” from doing business with them.
Furthermore, the EDD is denied export licences and excluded from the American financial system.
Washington also blacklisted an additional 33 people and entities associated with Russian military and intelligence.
The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (Caatsa) was passed in 2017 to provide the Trump administration with the necessary means to target Russia, Iran and North Korea with economic and political sanctions.
US President Donald Trump issued an executive order on Thursday intended to allow the sanctions to be implemented.
“The ultimate target of these sanctions is Russia,” a senior administration official told journalists.
“Caatsa sanctions in this context are not intended to undermine the defence capabilities of any particular country” but are “aimed at imposing costs on Russia in response to its malign activities.”
Similar action against other countries would be considered, Washington added.
A politician in Moscow said the US sanctions would have no impact on the sales of its fighter jets and missiles.
“I am sure that these contracts will be executed in line with the schedule,” Franz Klintsevich, a Russian member of parliament, was quoted as saying by Russia’s Interfax news agency.
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Philippines landslide victims ‘sent texts from underneath rubble’
A landslide in the Philippines has killed at least 21 people and left dozens missing, with some texting for help from under the rubble, say police.
The slide on Thursday engulfed two villages in Naga in Cebu province.
It comes days after the north of the Philippines was hit by a typhoon, killing more than 80 people.
Typhoon Mangkhut did not directly hit Cebu province but lead to stronger monsoon rains, increasing the risk of landslides across the country.
The Cebu landslide took out a whole section of hillside on which people had built their makeshift homes.
“It was like an earthquake and there was this thundering, loud banging sound,” resident Cristita Villarba told news agency AP.
“All of us ran out,” she said, adding that her husband and children all survived the disaster.
“Many of our neighbours were crying and screaming for help. Some wanted to help those who got hit but there was too much earth covering the houses, including my brother’s,” she said.
According to local media, more than 600 families from Naga were staying in evacuation centres on Thursday night.
Local media are citing police chief inspector Roderick Gonzales as saying that several people had been successfully rescued from inside buried houses.
“There were signs of life. Some of them managed to send text messages,” he said, raising hopes that they are trapped in air pockets in the debris.