Antony Blinken likely to warn China against aiding Russia during trip to Beijing
- US State Department spokesman Ned Price responds to reports by Bloomberg and CNN that Chinese businesses are providing equipment to Russia for its war on Ukraine
- ‘We would be concerned if we were to see not only the PRC itself engaging in this but … PRC companies doing this,’ Price says
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is likely to ask his counterparts in Beijing next month whether Chinese companies are supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine, the State Department said on Tuesday – a red line that Washington has emphasised often since the start of the conflict.
Responding to reports that such assistance was taking place, department spokesman Ned Price said: “This is something that we have been closely monitoring since, even before, the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine in February of last year.”
Citing sources familiar with the situation, Bloomberg and CNN both reported on Monday that officials in US President Joe Biden’s administration have confronted Beijing with evidence that some Chinese companies have sold non-lethal equipment that Russia is using in its war against Ukraine.
“I’m not in a position to confirm some of the accounts you read but we would be concerned if we were to see not only the PRC itself engaging in this but … PRC companies doing this,” Price said, referring to the People’s Republic of China.
“Obviously there is close synergy, cooperation, coordination between the PRC government and companies operating in and out of the PRC, and in all of our conversations, we have emphasised to our PRC counterparts the importance that we attach to this,” he continued.
China plans for Antony Blinken trip, urges US to ‘stick to dialogue’
“I suspect it’s something that we’ll discuss in the coming days when [Blinken] has an opportunity to travel to Beijing,” Price added.
The trip is part of an effort to halt further deterioration in a bilateral relationship full of outstanding disputes over human rights, trade practices and efforts by the US to prevent Chinese companies from acquiring advanced semiconductors and other hi-tech products.
