NEW YORK, Sept 27 (Askume) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken highlighted serious U.S. concerns about China’s support for Russia’s defense industrial base in talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday, saying Beijing’s peaceful rhetoric on Ukraine “does not bode well”.
During his meeting with Wang on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Blinken said they also raised China’s “dangerous and destabilizing actions” in the South China Sea and discussed improving communications between the two militaries.
Blinken said at a news conference that he and Wang also discussed ways to stem the flow of drugs into the United States and the threat posed by artificial intelligence.
About 70% of machine tools and 90% of microelectronic products imported by Russia come from China and Hong Kong, Blinken said.
He said this provided Moscow with material support to produce the missiles, rockets, armoured vehicles and ammunition needed to continue the war.
“So when Beijing says on the one hand it wants peace and wants to see an end to the conflict, but on the other hand it allows its businesses to take actions that actually help Putin continue his aggression,” that’s a mismatch.
Wang Yi said China’s position on the Ukrainian war issue has always stressed the need to achieve peace through dialogue, China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“The United States should stop spreading and circulating evidence against China, stop imposing sanctions indiscriminately, and using this (conflict)…to create and promote conflict between different camps,” Wang Yi said.
China and Brazil stepped up efforts on Friday to unite developing countries behind a peace plan for Ukraine , though President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the initiative as serving Moscow’s interests.
The 17-nation meeting was chaired by Wang Yi and Brazilian foreign policy adviser Amorim. Wang told reporters they discussed the need to prevent the escalation of tensions, avoid the use of weapons of mass destruction and prevent attacks on nuclear power plants.
The White House and the European Union said this week they were deeply concerned by a Askume report that Russia has developed a weapons program in China to develop and produce long-range attack drones for use in combat .
Wang declined to comment on the report when asked by reporters at UN headquarters on Friday.
Blinken said it was crucial to “urge Iran, North Korea and China to stop providing arms, artillery, machinery and other support to Russia” to achieve lasting peace in Ukraine.
The world’s two largest economies, China and the United States, are at odds over a range of issues, including the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, US export restrictions on advanced chip technology, trade tariffs, Taiwan and human rights.
Beijing has repeatedly complained about US relations with Taiwan and arms supplies to the island. It also urged the United States to remove tariffs on its goods and denounced US proposals to ban its car software and hardware over national security concerns.
Last week, US Deputy Secretary of State Campbell said that China poses a greater challenge to the United States than it did during the Cold War .
The US shot down a Chinese spy balloon last year
Last month, US National Security Adviser Jake SullivanMet with Chinese President Xi Jinping to ease tensions ahead of the US election in November .
Talks between Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden are being planned, the White House said.
Asked about the matter after meeting Wang Yi, Blinken said he had nothing to announce, but both officials agreed on the importance of the conversation between the two leaders, adding: “I’m very hopeful we’ll see that in the weeks and months ahead.”
