Blinken warns Chinese Wang Yi against helping Russia in Ukraine

[ad_1]

Blinken met China’s Wang Yi in Munich’Spy balloon’ dispute clouded US-China relationsBlinken says China is considering sending weapons to Russia

MUNICH, Feb 19 (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday warned Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi of the consequences if China provided material support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying in an interview after their meeting that Washington feared that Beijing was considering supplying weapons to Moscow.

Top diplomats from the two superpowers met at an undisclosed location on the sidelines of a global security conference in Munich, just hours after Wang chastised Washington as “hysterical” in an ongoing dispute over the slaughter by the United States of a suspected Chinese spy balloon.

Relations between the two countries have been strained since Washington said China flew a spy balloon over the continental United States before US fighter jets shot it down on orders from President Joe Biden. The dispute also came at a time when the West is closely watching Beijing’s response to the war in Ukraine.

In an interview that aired Sunday morning on NBC News’ “Meet the Press with Chuck Todd,” Blinken said the United States was very concerned that China was planning to provide deadly support to Russia and that he had clearly indicated to Wang that “this would have serious consequences in our relationship.”

Latest updates

See 2 more stories

“There are different types of lethal assistance that they are at least considering providing, including weapons,” Blinken said, adding that Washington would release more details soon.

Wang told Blinken that the United States must “address and resolve the damage” to bilateral relations “caused by the indiscriminate use of force,” China’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

Wang was referring to the recent downing of what the United States called a spy balloon, but Beijing said it was a weather-monitoring craft.

In a separate statement, the ministry warned Washington against further escalation.

“If the United States insists on taking advantage of the problem, stepping up the hype and expanding the situation, China will go all the way and the United States will bear all the consequences,” he said.

Speaking to reporters on a conference call, a senior State Department official said China was trying to “have it both ways” by saying it wanted to contribute to peace and stability, but at the same time taking “worrying” steps to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. .

Blinken “was quite blunt in warning of the implications and consequences of China providing material support to Russia or helping Russia to systematically avoid sanctions,” the senior official said, speaking on his own. speaking on condition of anonymity.

Russia and China signed a ‘no limits’ partnership last February shortly before Russian forces invaded Ukraine, and their economic ties have exploded as Moscow’s ties to the West have grown. shrunk.

The West has been wary of China’s response to the war on Ukraine, warning that a Russian victory would color China’s actions toward Taiwan. China has refrained from condemning the war or calling it an “invasion”.

Earlier, speaking on a panel at the conference, Wang reiterated a call for dialogue and suggested European countries should “think calmly” about how to end the war.

[1/10] US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sits down for a Transatlantic Quad meeting with the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany and Britain during the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on 18 February 2023. Petr David Josek/Pool via REUTERS

He also said there were “certain forces that apparently don’t want the negotiations to succeed, or the war to end soon”, without specifying who he was referring to.

NO EXCUSE

Blinken and Wang’s meeting came hours after the top Chinese diplomat slammed the United States, accusing it of violating international norms with “hysterical” behavior by knocking the ball down.

The balloon’s flight this month over US territory sparked an outcry in Washington and prompted Blinken to postpone a planned visit to Beijing. The Feb. 5-6 trip would have been the first by a US secretary of state to China in five years and was seen by both sides as an opportunity to stabilize increasingly strained ties.

“To have sent an advanced fighter jet to shoot down a balloon with a missile, such behavior is unbelievable, almost hysterical,” Wang said.

“There are so many balloons all over the world, and various countries have them. So, is the United States going to shoot them all down?” he said.

China reacted angrily when the US military shot down the balloon from 200 feet (60 meters) on February 4, saying it was used to monitor weather conditions and had veered off course. Washington said it was clearly a surveillance balloon with huge landing gear containing electronics.

Questions had swirled about whether Blinken and Wang would use the Munich conference as a chance to re-engage in person, and the State Department did not confirm the hour-long meeting until after it ended.

In the interview with NBC, Blinken said Wang did not apologize for the theft of the ball.

“I just told him it was unacceptable and it could never happen again,” Blinken said, referring to the balloon’s violation of American airspace.

“There were no apologies,” he said, adding that he had not discussed with Wang postponing his trip to China.

Washington was hoping to put a “floor” under relations that hit a dangerous low in August with China’s reaction to a visit to Taiwan by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

But Craig Singleton, a China expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, said that while Wang’s comments at the conference were likely meant to dispel embarrassment over the balloon incident, the lack of Washington’s firm response “increases China’s appetite for risk in future litigation.”

“Blinken and Wang’s meeting will not change the downward trajectory of US-China relations. It is clear that there is almost no trust between the two sides,” Singleton said.

Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Ryan Woo, Michael Martina, Richard Cowan, Trevor Hunnicutt, Sabine Siebold, Andrew Gray, Alexander Ratz, John Irish, Andreas Rinke, Jonathan Landay; written by Matthias Williams; Editing by Alex Richardson, Diane Craft, Jonathan Oatis and William Mallard

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[ad_2]