China is considering giving Russia ‘lethal’ military aid in Ukraine
Keep up to Date & Bypass the Big Tech Censorship
Get uncensored news and updates, subscribe to our daily FREE newsletter!
The US has warned that China is considering supplying Russia with “lethal” military aid for the first time since the Kremlin invaded Ukraine
Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, told Chinese officials at a meeting on the sidelines of a security conference in Munich that any aid to Russia would trigger “serious consequences”.
“We are very concerned that China is considering providing lethal support to Russia and its aggression against Ukraine,” he told NBC News after meeting with Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat.
| Recommended Books [ see all ] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |
 |
Rows over Taiwan and an alleged Chinese spy balloon that the US Air Force shot down at the beginning of February have already seriously strained relations between China and the US.
Now the US has started to increase warnings that China is playing a more prominent role in backing Russia. US officials have said that China has spread Kremlin disinformation and is preparing to send uniforms and body armour to Moscow.
Related video: Putin isolating U.S. in Asia? Biden admin warns China against arming Russian troops in Ukraine
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi at an undisclosed location on the sides of a global security conference in Munich. In the meeting, Blinken warned Wang Yi of consequences should China provide material support to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Washington says it was concerned over Beijing considering supplying weapons to Moscow.
“We have seen some political and rhetorical support, even some non-lethal support,” Mr Blinken said in the NBC interview.
Mr Blinken met with Mr Wang for an hour late on Saturday in rare talks that highlight the seriousness of Washington’s concerns that Beijing is being dragged into the war.
This would mark a change in Chinese policy towards Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in February last year. The invasion shocked Beijing and it had initially looked to distance itself from the Kremlin, a major disappointment for Vladimir Putin who had expected support from Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Chinese officials have not publicly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but at a meeting in Uzbekistan in September, Mr Putin acknowledged that Mr Xi had “questions and concerns”. At the time this was interpreted as an admission that he didn’t enjoy Mr Xi’s full support.
A few hours before his meeting with Mr Blinken, Mr Wang had mocked the US for its “hysterical” reaction in shooting down the Chinese balloon.
“To have dispatched an advanced fighter jet to shoot down a balloon with a missile, such behaviour is unbelievable, almost hysterical,” he said.
Chinese officials have said that the balloon shot down by the US Air Force on February 4 was monitoring weather conditions and had blown off course. US officials have said that it was a well-kitted-out spy balloon.
Mr Blinken cancelled a trip to Beijing because of the row over the alleged Chinese spy balloon. That would have been the first trip by a US Secretary of State to China for five years and was supposed to go some way towards smoothing fraught relations.
Russia and China have grown increasingly close over the past few years, signing major energy deals and working together through various international groups which they head up, including the Central Asia-focused Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, to establish an alternative to what they have complained is a US-centric global order.
