China’s Tsinghua University Honours German Gref, Russian Banker Sanctioned by US China's Tsinghua University has sparked controversy with its decision to confer an honorary title on German Gref, the CEO of Sberbank, a Russian bank that has been under US sanctions since 2014.
The move comes just days after the summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, where energy cooperation and trade agreements dominated the agenda.
Gref's Sberbank was penalized by the US in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea.