US in pressure campaign to stop China from arming Russia

CIA chief William Burns is the latest US official to warn Beijing against providing such lethal assistance to Moscow.

William Burns has warned China not to cross the line. Picture: AFP

The US is “confident” China is considering providing lethal weapons to support the Russian forces invading Ukraine, according to senior officials.

And while they have seen no sign this has happened, they underscored the message that China should not cross the line.

“We’re confident that the Chinese leadership is considering the provision of lethal equipment to Russia,” CIA director William Burns told CBS.

“We also don’t see that a final decision has been made yet, and we don’t see evidence of actual shipments of lethal equipment.”

US officials have launched a broad diplomatic offensive over the past week to warn China against providing such lethal assistance, which experts say could have a profound impact on the war in Ukraine as it enters its second year.

Beijing, so far, has forcefully denied the allegations.

Media reports, including in The Wall Street Journal, have cited unidentified US officials as saying China is weighing up whether to provide strike drones and munitions to Russia.

German weekly Der Spiegel has reported that Moscow is negotiating the possible purchase from a Chinese firm of 100 drones for use in Ukraine.

Earlier this month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken shared US concerns directly with China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, during a meeting in the margins of the Munich Security Conference. On Wednesday, Mr Wang met in Moscow with President Vladimir Putin, underscoring the close ties between the countries.

US officials say Chinese companies are already providing non-lethal equipment to Russia.

On Sunday, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan made the rounds of the morning talk shows to reinforce Washington’s warnings. He said the US would remain “vigilant” about Chinese military supplies to Russia and that there would be consequences should Beijing send lethal weaponry.

“We will continue to send a strong message that we believe that sending military aid to Russia at this time … would be a bad mistake, and China should want no part of it,” he said on CNN.

Mr Sullivan noted that the war in Ukraine posed “real complications” for Beijing, but he reiterated that a decision to help arm Russia would “come at real cost to China”.

Washington has yet to detail what those costs might be, but it does have a large array of available sanctions that could seriously affect the economy of China, one of the US’s largest trading partners.

President Joe Biden told ABC on Friday that he had warned President Xi Jinping last year that a move to arm Russia would have dire economic repercussions – as it has had for Russia.

“This is not a threat, it’s just a statement,” he said.

During a virtual summit on Friday, G7 leaders threatened to impose “severe costs” on any country helping Russia evade sanctions.

The war has placed Beijing in an awkward spot. Its diplomatic and economic ties to Moscow – reinforced over the past year – put it at odds with the US and the broad international coalition supporting Ukraine.

China has avoided condemning Russia’s Ukraine invasion, and on Friday it put forth a 12-point proposal calling for dialogue between the warring sides, respect for territorial integrity, and a ban on any use of nuclear weapons. But from Washington’s perspective, Beijing is attempting to have it “both ways” – a balancing act that grows ever harder to maintain.

“They’re trying to present themselves as neutral and a party for peace while at the same time aiding and abetting Russia’s war effort,” Mr Blinken said.

Meanwhile, China’s claim to Taiwan – and its increasingly aggressive military presence in that region – make any Chinese-Russian military co-operation all the more worrisome, some US Republicans say.

“While it may be Ukraine today, it’s going to be Taiwan tomorrow,” Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told ABC. “That’s why this is so important.”

AFP