The Biden administration has increasingly sounded the alarm about China’s support as Russia ramps up its weapons-building efforts – support that the US says has allowed Moscow to continue its war against Ukraine
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in China on Wednesday, where he is expected to issue a strong warning to Chinese leaders about the country’s support for Russia’s efforts to increase weapons production as the war in Ukraine rages on. to be continued.
The top American diplomat landed in Shanghai, where he is expected to meet with local officials and business leaders, and will then travel to Beijing for meetings with senior Chinese officials. The trip – his second to the country in less than a year – is the latest in a series of high-level engagements that culminated in a summit between President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in California in November, following a period of great tension.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visited the country a few weeks ago, and Biden and Xi spoke on the phone earlier this month.
“We are in a different situation than we were a year ago, when bilateral relations were at a historic low,” said a senior State Department official.
While officials from both nations have suggested that Blinken’s agenda will center on managing the relationship and communicating concerns, sharp divisions remain and talks are not expected to be easy, especially on the issue of China’s support for the base. industrial Russia while the war in Ukraine continues.
The Biden administration has increasingly sounded the alarm about China’s support as Russia increases the pace of its weapons manufacturing efforts – support that the US says has allowed Moscow to continue its war against Ukraine.
“We see China sharing tools, semiconductors and other dual-use items that have helped Russia rebuild its defense industrial base that sanctions and export controls have so degraded,” Blinken said at a press conference in Italy last week .
China has not provided direct military support to Russia, but the industrial and logistical aid it is providing is having a strong impact at a time when the Ukrainian military has been plagued by shortages of equipment and weapons.
As Russia has begun to rebuild its defense capabilities, the US has sought to rally allies to pressure Beijing – through diplomatic means or, failing that, punitive measures – to stop providing that support, and Blinken is expected to convey a strong message about the issue during your visit.
“Russia is no longer holding back,” said another State Department official. “It is growing. It has substantial resources, it has reconstituted itself. They represent a threat not only to Ukraine, but to the entire region.”
Blinken will argue that support for Russia is harming not only Ukraine, but all European security.
“China can’t have it both ways,” Blinken said. “You cannot claim to have positive relations with Europe and, at the same time, be fueling the biggest threat to Europe since the end of the Cold War.”
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Monday that “China can do more.” “We have always made it clear that we are willing and able to take our own measures, if appropriate, and I think we will stay there.”
Despite the threat of US action, a Chinese Foreign Ministry official said on Tuesday that Beijing was unlikely to back down on its support for Moscow, warning the US not to “tarnish normal relations between states” and calling on them to lift sanctions against Chinese entities, during a briefing to state media.
“The Ukrainian issue is not an issue between China and the United States, and the United States should not turn it into an issue between China and the United States,” the official said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, June 19, 2023. Leah Millis/AP
China’s complaints
Chinese officials are also expected to raise troubling issues with Blinken.
Beijing has been increasing complaints about what it considers to be intensified US efforts to control and restrict China, despite increased communications between the two countries following the Biden-Xi summit last November.
Although relations between the US and China have stabilized since the summit, “negative factors in relations are also very prominent,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry official said at Tuesday’s briefing.
“The United States is stubbornly advancing its strategy to contain China and continues to use wrong words and actions that interfere in China’s internal affairs, tarnish China’s image and harm China’s interests. We firmly oppose and we oppose this”, said the official.
Still, the Biden administration is interested in keeping lines of communication open, and believes China is currently on the same page. China came to the conclusion that its aggressive diplomacy was “profoundly unsuccessful” because it “alienated more than it attracted”, said the same State Department official, explaining why China is now open to involvement.
“The Chinese want a more stable global environment, their economy has slowed down substantially, they want more investment,” the official explained, adding that China specifically wants the involvement of American companies.
Other issues in the Indo-Pacific region are also expected to feature prominently in Blinken’s meetings.
The Biden administration has sought to strengthen its alliances in the region in the face of Beijing’s “provocations” in the South China Sea. In recent weeks, Biden hosted his Filipino and Japanese counterparts for an inaugural summit in Washington, where he reaffirmed the US commitment to the defense of the Philippines. The US has sent a powerful land attack missile system to the Philippines and carried out a series of joint exercises with the treaty ally.
At Tuesday’s briefing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry official accused the US of “being obsessed with coercing its allies into forming an anti-China clique” and of “interfering in the South China Sea and sowing discord between China and ASEAN”, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
A sensitive moment
Blinken’s visit also comes at a delicate time in the Taiwan Strait, less than a month before the autonomous island of Taiwan swears in a new president that Beijing openly despises.
The State Department’s top official stated that “it is expected that the Secretary will emphasize, both privately and publicly, the United States’ ongoing interest in maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”
“We think this is vitally important for the region and for the world. And our hope will be – particularly during this important and sensitive period leading up to the inauguration on May 20th – that all countries will contribute to peace and stability, avoid taking provocative actions that could increase tensions and demonstrate restraint. This will be our message for the future”, said the official.
China’s ruling Communist Party considers Taiwan to be part of its territory, despite never having controlled it. Although successive Chinese communist leaders have promised to eventually achieve “reunification”, Xi has repeatedly stated that the Taiwan issue “should not be passed down from generation to generation” and has significantly increased economic, military and diplomatic pressure against its neighbor. democracy in recent years.
The Taiwan Relations Act obliges Washington to provide weapons to defend the island, and Biden has repeatedly suggested he would use U.S. military personnel to defend it in the event of a Chinese invasion (although White House officials have said U.S. policy to leaving this question ambiguous has not changed).
The two sides are also expected to discuss the situation in the Middle East. US officials believe that China has influence, especially due to the amount of oil it imports from Iran. Blinken will argue that China should intervene “more directly” with Iran so that it can be less provocative in the region, according to the top US official. Department of State.
“I’m going to let China talk about the actions it has taken,” Miller said Monday. “But we will continue to insist to China that it is not just in the interest of the region, it is not just in the interest of the United States, it is not just in the interest of the individual countries that are involved, but it is in the interest of China and the world at large that there is no further expansion of the conflict”.
Blinken is expected to discuss the flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals into the US and military-to-military dialogue, areas Xi committed to when he met Biden.
“In both cases, the Chinese have taken some initial steps,” said the same senior State Department official, adding that there is still “much more” to do on both fronts.
Blinken is also expected to raise concerns about China’s efforts to bolster its nuclear arsenal, as well as the cases of Americans who have been prevented from leaving China due to exit bans or those the State Department has deemed unfairly detained, including Mark Swidan, Kai Li and David Lin.
