Blinken meets with Xi in Beijing and raises concerns about China’s support for Russia

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised concerns on Friday about China’s support for Russia’s military, one of many issues threatening the recent improvement in relations between the world’s two largest economies.

Blinken raised the issue during five-and-a-half hours of talks with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi in Beijing, the latest high-level contact between the countries that have eased tensions that saw ties deteriorate last year.

“I reiterated our serious concerns about China supplying components that are fueling Russia’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine,” Blinken said at a press conference.

The US diplomat ends his visit on Friday with little progress on a range of contentious issues, including US complaints about cheap Chinese exports. Instead, both sides are focusing on pragmatic topics such as people-to-people exchanges.

“The secretary discussed concerns about the PRC’s support for the Russian defense industrial base,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, adding that the two sides also discussed Taiwan, the South China Sea and other issues of conflict.

The PRC is the abbreviation of China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China.

Despite its “boundless” partnership with Moscow, China has avoided supplying weapons to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

But U.S. officials warn that Chinese companies are helping the arms sector with an unprecedented surge in production that has helped turn the tide of the war.

China said it has not supplied weapons to either party, adding that it is “not a producer or party involved in the Ukraine crisis.” However, she asserts that normal trade between China and Russia should not be interrupted or restricted.

In addition to his talks with Wang, Blinken met with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who reiterated Beijing’s concerns that the US is suppressing its economic development.

“This is a fundamental issue that needs to be addressed, just like the first button on a shirt that needs to be adjusted, for the relationship between China and the US to truly stabilize, improve and move forward,” Xi said.

Earlier, Wang told Blinken that the “giant ship” of ties between China and the US had stabilized, “but the negative factors in the relationship are still increasing and developing.”

Wang also said the US has taken “endless” measures to suppress China’s economy, trade, science and technology, equating these measures with containment.

Other issues on the agenda include artificial intelligence and US pressure for progress in reducing China’s supply of chemicals used in the manufacture of fentanyl.