China weighing up sending lethal support to Russia, Antony Blinken warns

US Secretary of State warns any escalation of Ukraine invasion would have ‘serious consequences’, after rare talks with China.

Wang Yi condemned the US reaction to the balloon as ‘hysterical and absurd’ in remarks at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. Picture: AFP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned that China was “considering providing lethal support” to Russia to assist in its war in Ukraine.

Such a possible escalation of the year long conflict would have serious consequences, Mr Blinken said.

Mr Blinken also warned China not to repeat its “irresponsible act” of sending a spy balloon into American airspace, as he held rare talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi.

The highly anticipated meeting late on Saturday (Sunday AEDT) of the two senior officials came on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, amid growing tensions between Washington and Beijing.

Mr Blinken said he expressed “deep concerns” to the Chinese counsellor of state at the Munich Security Conference on the weekend about the “possibility that China will provide lethal material support to Russia”.

He told American broadcaster CBS: “To date, we have seen Chinese companies … provide non-lethal support to Russia for use in Ukraine. The concern that we have now is based on information we have that they’re considering providing lethal support”.

Mr Blinken believed such support would be in the form primarily of weapons, as well as ammunition.

He didn’t divulge the information that the US had about China’s intentions, but he said any such development would “have serious consequences” to the US’s relationship with China.

Mr Blinken then told another American broadcaster, NBC News’ Meet the Press that the United States was very concerned that “China is considering providing lethal support” to Russia.

“There are various kinds of lethal assistance that they are at least contemplating providing, to include weapons,” Mr Blinken said.

Both Russia and the West are facing depleted supplies of missiles and ammunition as the war approaches the one year mark on February 24.

Mr Blinken had met China’s foreign minister Wang Yi at the Munich security conference at a time the relations between the two powers was already fraught over the shooting down of an alleged Chinese spy balloon over American territory.

In a statement from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Wang had told Mr Blinken the United States must “face up to and resolve the damage” of the countries relationship “caused by the indiscriminate use of force”. Mr Wang had also told a panel at the conference that “some forces that seemingly don’t want negotiations to succeed, or for the war to end soon”.

US State department officials briefed journalists that China was trying to have it both ways by calling for peace and stability while simultaneously taking concerning steps to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Blinken “was quite blunt in warning about the implications and consequences of China providing material support to Russia or assisting Russia with systematic sanctions evasion,” the state department official added.

Blinken, Wang exchange warnings

The US has been in a state of alarm since a huge white balloon from China was spotted over a series of secret nuclear weapons sites, before being shot down just off the east coast on February 4.

The incident led Mr Blinken to abruptly call off a rare trip to China. Beijing denies it uses spy balloons and says the craft was for weather research. Subsequently, it accused Washington of sending its own espionage balloons over Chinese territory, which the US has denied.

During their encounter on Saturday, Mr Blinken “directly spoke to the unacceptable violation of US sovereignty and international law by (China’s) high-altitude surveillance balloon in US territorial airspace, underscoring that this irresponsible act must never again occur”, State Department spokesman Ned Price said. “The secretary made clear the United States will not stand for any violation of our sovereignty,” he added.

He also warned Mr Wang “about the implications and consequences if China provides material support to Russia or assistance with systemic sanctions evasion”, Mr Price said.

Mr Blinken was “very direct and candid” during the talks, which lasted around an hour, according to a senior State Department official. He was also “quite blunt” as they spoke about Russia, the official said.

Antony Blinken with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday. Picture: AFP

In turn, Mr Wang told Mr Blinken their countries’ relations had been damaged by how Washington reacted to the balloon. Mr Wang “made clear China’s solemn position on the so-called airship incident”, and “urged the US side to change course, acknowledge and repair the damage that its excessive use of force caused to China-US relations”, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Speaking earlier at the gathering of world leaders in Munich, Mr Wang had condemned the US reaction to the balloon as “hysterical and absurd”.

In uncharacteristically strong remarks against Washington, Mr Wang said President Joe Biden’s administration had a “misguided” perception of Beijing.

He also accused the US of trying to “smear” the Asian giant while Washington itself was implementing policies that ran counter to its paradigms, such as free trade.

“There are many balloons from many countries in the sky. Do you want to down each and every one of them?” he said.

“We urge the United States not to do such preposterous things simply to divert attention from its own domestic problems.”

Asked then if he was planning to meet with the US delegation, Mr Wang had accused Washington of taking a wrong view of China as a serious geopolitical challenge and a threat to the US.

“This is a misguided perception of China, and with this perception, the United States is using all of its means to smear and clamp down China, and is co-opting other countries to do the same,” he said.

Mr Wang accused the US instead of “100 per cent protectionism, 100 per cent self-servingness, 100 per cent unilateral action” in its own economic policies, such as the Chips Act, which earmarks billions of dollars for subsidies and research in the semiconductor sector. He added that he hoped Washington would “take a pragmatic and proactive attitude” towards China and restore relations to a “track of sound development”.

After four years of antagonistic relations with China under predecessor Donald Trump, Mr Biden has made a priority of resetting relations with Beijing, which he describes as Washington’s biggest competitor.

Additional reporting: AFP