U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang shake hands before a meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, June 18, 2023.
Léa Millis | AFP | Getty Images
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will warn China against supporting the Russian military when he visits the country this week, according to a senior State Department official.
Blinken is expected to convey Washington’s “deep concerns” about China’s aid to Russia’s defense industrial base during his three-day visit beginning Wednesday.
“We are prepared to take action when we deem it necessary against companies that … seriously undermine security in Ukraine and Europe,” the official told reporters before Blinken’s trip.
“And I think we have demonstrated our willingness to do that with respect to companies in a number of countries, not just China,” he added. “In any case, again, I think this will be a key topic of discussion while we are in Beijing.”
U.S. allies in Europe are concerned about the implications of Beijing’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine and “what it means for European security in particular.” Then, of course, it will be up to China to determine the next steps,” the official noted. .
This will be Blinken’s second trip to China following a high-stakes diplomatic mission aimed at easing tensions between the United States and China in June last year.
During his visit to Beijing and Shanghai, Blinken is expected to meet with senior Chinese officials, including Foreign Minister Wang Yi, according to the State Department. It remains unclear whether the secretary of state will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
China fuels threat to European security
When it comes to Russia’s defense industrial base, China is “the biggest contributor,” Blinken said last week, following the G7 foreign ministers meeting in Italy.
“We see China sharing machine tools, semiconductors and other dual-use goods that have helped Russia rebuild the defense industrial base that sanctions and export controls had done so much to degrade “, did he declare.
“Now, if China on the one hand claims to want good relations with Europe and other countries, on the other hand it cannot fuel what constitutes the greatest threat to European security since the end of the cold War.”
Chinese companies are playing an increasingly important role in supporting Russia’s struggling economy and boosting its military capabilities, including through trading in goods for use on the battlefield in Ukraine, according to a CNBC analysis.
Data last year seemed to suggest Beijing was supplying useful military equipment such as drones, helmets, vests and radios, extending the lifeline from President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine.
Blinken “will also discuss a range of bilateral, regional and global issues,” such as the Middle East crisis and China’s provocations in the South China Sea, the senior official said.
Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea and is in a territorial dispute with Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, among others. She has already warned Washington not to interfere in China’s territorial and maritime rights.
On the trade front, the two countries continue to battle for technological supremacy and last week China criticized the US investigation into its maritime, logistics and shipbuilding sectors, calling the move “an error on top of ‘a mistake “.
The senior US official stressed that Washington was realistic about its expectations for Blinken’s visit to resolve key issues.
“I would like to make it clear that we are realistic and lucid about the prospects for progress on each of these issues,” he said.
“But we will continue to use diplomacy to communicate our positions and policies, dispel misconceptions, and emphasize that we will continue to take action to protect our national security and economy.”
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