Blinken issues new threat to China

Washington will continue to take measures against Chinese companies if Beijing does not halt its alleged support for Russia’s defense industry, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Laos on Saturday.

In a press statement published on the US State Department’s website, spokesperson Matthew Miller outlined the details of Blinken and Wang’s meeting, stating that the two sides had “productive discussions on key bilateral, regional and global issues.”

Blinken asserted that the US would continue to advance its vision for a “free and open Indo-Pacific” and raised concerns over China’s “destabilizing actions in the South China Sea.”

He also reiterated Washington’s “serious concern with PRC support for Russia’s defense industrial base,” and warned Beijing that if it does not act to address this “threat to European security,” the US would “continue to take appropriate measures to do so.”

Both Beijing and Moscow have repeatedly denied US claims that China has been providing support for Russia’s defense industry through bilateral trade. Nevertheless, Washington has sanctioned dozens of Chinese businesses, accusing them of selling goods and components to Russia that can be used for military purposes.

Last week, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in the US, Liu Pengyu, insisted that Beijing had always taken an “objective and fair stance” with regard to the Ukraine conflict. He added that China doesn’t seek “selfish gains by fueling the tensions,” and does not provide weapons to either side.

Liu also said China has the right to engage in “normal economic and trade exchanges with all countries, including Russia,” and cautioned Washington against attempts to undermine these relations, which he said were based on equality and mutual benefit.

“The US is organizing a campaign to help Ukraine while making groundless accusations,” the Chinese spokesman said, slamming such an approach as “hypocritical and irresponsible,” which he said China firmly opposes.

Beijing has previously accused the US and its allies, who supply the bulk of Kiev’s military equipment, of hypocrisy, insisting that the West should work on bringing Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table instead of “shifting the blame” onto China for the continued hostilities.