US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the United States believes that China is considering providing weaponry to support Russia in its war in Ukraine.
Speaking in Kazakhstan on Tuesday as part of a tour of Central Asian nations, Blinken warned China of “implications and consequences” should it arm Russia.
Over the past year, Ukraine has been showered with weapons and billions of dollars in financial support by the United States and its allies.
“We did very clearly warn China about the implications and consequences of going through with providing such support,” he said at a news conference in Astana, following meetings with Kazakh foreign minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi and President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Blinken is meeting representatives of several former Soviet republics this week, including from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
“We will not hesitate, for example, to target Chinese companies or individuals that violate our sanctions, or are otherwise engaged in supporting the Russian war effort,” he warned.
Blinken said that he’d discussed the issue “directly” with top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi when they came across it at the Munich Security Conference in Germany earlier this month.
CIA Director Bill Burns told CBS News on Friday that the agency was “confident that the Chinese leadership is considering the provision of lethal equipment” to Moscow to aid it militarily in its conflict with Ukraine.
The US intelligence chief warned that such a step by China would be “a very risky and unwise bet.”
“I hope very much that they don’t,” he added.
Blinken on Tuesday warned that any Chinese moves to aid Russia would create a “serious problem” for US-China relations.
“China can’t have it both ways when it comes to the Russian aggression in Ukraine,” Blinken added. “It can’t be putting forward peace proposals on the one hand, while actually feeding the flames of the fire that Russia has started with the other hand.”
Last week, China issued a 12-point plan detailing a potential roadmap to peace between Russia and Ukraine.
China has rejected US assertions and said the US is fueling the conflict in Ukraine by sending weapons worth billions of dollars to Kiev.
“The US has no right to dictate China-Russia relations, and we will never accept coercion and pressure from the US,” foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told journalists during a briefing on Monday.
On Sunday, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan also issued a blunt US warning to China to stop short of providing lethal weaponry to Russia. But both Burns and Sullivan acknowledged that the United States has yet to determine that any weaponry has been shipped, according to AFP.
China is considering sending drones and munitions to Russia, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. China has denied it is considering any such shipment to Russia.
Source: AFP
