China’s government probably approved of Chinese firms providing Russia non-lethal, “dual-use” support for its war in Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday, in remarks that underscore growing US concern that Beijing may go further and help arm President Vladimir Putin’s forces.
(Bloomberg) — China’s government probably approved of Chinese firms providing Russia non-lethal, “dual-use” support for its war in Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday, in remarks that underscore growing US concern that Beijing may go further and help arm President Vladimir Putin’s forces.
Last weekend, Blinken warned his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi against providing lethal aid to Moscow. The US has previously sanctioned Chinese firms for helping the war effort — including by imposing penalties against a Chinese satellite firm that provided imagery of Ukrainian locations to Russian mercenaries.
“There has been some non-lethal, dual-use type support coming from quote-unquote Chinese companies, that almost certainly was approved by the state, because there’s really no difference, but not lethal military support,” Blinken said on Thursday in a conversation hosted by the Atlantic magazine.
“But we also have picked up information over the last couple of months that China is now strongly considering doing that.”
Blinken didn’t provide examples or evidence that the Chinese government approved dual-use items, those that can have both military and civilian purposes. Nor has the US yet provided evidence for its assertion that China is moving to provide lethal aid for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Asked for more details at a briefing on Thursday, State Department spokesman Ned Price said it wasn’t yet possible to reveal the information that has fueled the new round of accusations against Beijing, but that some US concerns stemmed from China’s state-run economy.
“Our concern is predicated on the fact that in a state-run economy like the PRC, there is not a clear delineation between the public sector and the private sector that you have in a country like the United States,” Price said, referring to the country by its formal name, the People’s Republic of China.
“I know there’s intense interest in garnering additional detail,” Price said in response to repeated questions on whether the US was able to declassify its intelligence on the matter. “If we’re able to provide that we will, but what is paramount to us, always, is protection of sources and methods, and to preserve our ability to obtain this kind of information going forward.”
US officials have previously criticized China for attempting to portray itself as a neutral party in the conflict while simultaneously giving Moscow what the US alleges is diplomatic, economic and propaganda support.
Yet Blinken’s comments that China’s government may have given tacit approval to companies aiding Russian forces through dual-use items only adds to growing US-China tensions since the US discovered, and then shot down, an alleged Chinese spy balloon over the US.
Blinken said Thursday that he hoped China would get the message that providing Russia with military support for its invasion would dent Beijing’s international reputation as the country seeks to emerge from years of strict coronavirus measures and engage more in global diplomacy.
“I’m hopeful, but in a very clear-eyed way, that China will get that message because it’s not only coming from us, it’s coming from many other countries who do not want to see China aiding and abetting, in a material way, Russia’s war effort in Ukraine,” Blinken said.
“And so to the extent China is trying to engage in a charm offensive these days, to re-engage with other countries as it comes out of Covid, I don’t think it wants to be in the business of further alienating them by providing lethal support to Russia.”
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