美国多年来一直试图将其对手与世界金融体系切断。但据知情人士透露，来自伊朗和俄罗斯等地的资金仍在持续流动——这在很大程度上要归功于中国的银行。
The U.S. has tried for years to cut off its adversaries from the world’s financial system. But money from places such as Iran and Russia has kept on flowing—in large part thanks to banks in China, people familiar with the activity say.
据前美国官员和《华尔街日报》看到的文件显示，这一挑战的典型例证是中国东部一家鲜为人知的区域性银行，该行近年来已成为伊朗和俄罗斯金融交易的关键渠道。文件显示，这些资金被用于购买中国商品，违反了西方制裁，其中包括一些具有潜在军事用途的商品。
The challenge is exemplified by a little-known regional bank in eastern China, which in recent years emerged as a key conduit for Iranian and Russian financial transactions, according to former U.S. officials and documents seen by The Wall Street Journal. The funds were used to buy Chinese goods in violation of Western sanctions, including some with potential military applications, the documents show.
前官员称，浙江稠州商业银行在拜登和特朗普政府期间均被美国官员内部标记，因其协助的交易似乎旨在规避制裁。他们表示，在美方对伊朗和俄罗斯资金流向的监测中，稠州银行因出现频率之高而脱颖而出。
The bank, Zhejiang Chouzhou Commercial Bank, was flagged internally by U.S. officials during both the Biden and Trump administrations for facilitating transactions that appeared designed to evade sanctions, former officials said. ZCCB stood out from other Chinese banks for how frequently it came up in U.S. monitoring of Iranian and Russian money flows, they said.
但华盛顿止步于未对稠州银行实施制裁。前官员称，很难认定稠州银行是否知晓资金来源，且华盛顿担心针对该行采取行动可能会破坏与北京的关系，或扰乱中国的金融体系。
But Washington stopped short of slapping ZCCB with sanctions. It was difficult to determine whether ZCCB knew about the funds’ origins, and Washington worried that targeting the bank could upset relations with Beijing or disrupt China’s financial system, the former officials said.