Commentary
A Supply Chain, Not a Slogan
Imagine a sanctions analyst on a U.S. bank’s midnight shift watching a payment ping from a Chinese trading company to a Gulf intermediary for “industrial valves.” The invoice is generic, the routing threads through a Hong Kong shell you’ve seen before, and the beneficial-owner field is blank. The cargo is labeled “machinery parts,” vague enough to pass first review, and the end-user’s address resolves to a shared office suite.Nothing in the file is a smoking gun. But it feels familiar: China’s commercial ecosystem provides the frictionless cover that lets sanctioned partners keep moving.
