February 19, 2023
By Humeyra Pamuk and Michael Martina
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken sits down for a Meeting of the Transatlantic Quad with the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany and Britain at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, February 18, 2023. Petr David Josek/Pool via REUTERS
MUNICH, Feb 19 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Antony
Blinken on Saturday warned top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi of consequences should
China provide material support to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, saying in an
interview after the two met that Washington was concerned Beijing was
considering supplying weapons to Moscow.
The top diplomats of the two superpowers met at an undisclosed
location on the sidelines of a global security conference in Munich, just hours
after Wang scolded Washington as "hysterical" in a running dispute
over the U.S. downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon.
Relations between the two countries have been fraught since
Washington said China flew a spy balloon over the continental U.S. before
American fighter jets shot it down on President Joe Biden's orders. The dispute
also came at a time when the West is closely watching Beijing's response to the
Ukraine war.
In an interview to be aired on Sunday morning on NBC News'
"Meet the Press with Chuck Todd," Blinken said the United States was
very concerned that China is considering providing lethal support to Russia and
that he made clear to Wang that "would have serious consequences in our
relationship."
"There are various kinds of lethal assistance that they are
at least contemplating providing, to include weapons," Blinken said,
adding that Washington would soon release more details.
Wang told Blinken the United States must "face up to and
resolve the damage" to bilateral relations "caused by the
indiscriminate use of force", China's foreign ministry said on Sunday.
Wang was referring to the recent shootdown of what the United
States called a spy balloon but Beijing said was a weather-monitoring craft.
In another statement, the ministry warned Washington against
further escalation.
"If the U.S. insists on taking advantage of the issue,
escalating the hype, and expanding the situation, China will follow through to
the end, and the U.S. will bear all the consequences," it said.
Speaking to reporters in a briefing call, a senior State
Department official said China was trying to "have it both ways" by
claiming it wants to contribute to peace and stability but at the same time
taking "concerning" steps to support Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
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 senior official said,
speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Russia and China signed a "no limits" partnership last
February shortly before Russian forces invaded Ukraine, and their economic
links have boomed as Moscow's connections with the West have shrivelled.
The West has been wary of China's response to the Ukraine war,
with some
warning that a Russian victory would colour China's actions toward
Taiwan. China has refrained from condemning the war or calling it an
"invasion."
Earlier, speaking at a panel at the conference, Wang reiterated
a call for dialogue and suggested European countries "think calmly"
about how to end the war.
He also said there were "some forces that seemingly don't
want negotiations to succeed, or for the war to end soon," without
specifying to whom he was referring.
NO APOLOGY
Blinken and Wang's meeting came hours after the top Chinese
diplomat took a swipe at the United States, accusing it of violating
international norms with "hysterical" behaviour by shooting down the
balloon.
The balloon's flight this month over U.S. territory triggered an
uproar in Washington and prompted
Blinken to postpone a planned visit to Beijing. That Feb. 5-6 trip would have
been the first by a U.S. secretary of state to China in five years and was seen
by both sides as an opportunity to stabilize increasingly fraught
ties.
"To have dispatched an advanced fighter jet to shoot down a
balloon with a missile, such behaviour is unbelievable, almost
hysterical," Wang said.
"There are so many balloons all over the world, and various
countries have them. So, is the United States going to shoot all of them
down?" he said.
China reacted angrily when the U.S. military downed the 200-foot
(60-meter) balloon on Feb. 4, saying it was for monitoring weather conditions
and had blown off course. Washington said it was clearly a surveillance balloon
with a massive undercarriage holding electronics.
Questions had swirled as to whether Blinken and Wang would use
the conference in Munich as a chance to reengage in-person, and the State
Department only confirmed the hour-long meeting after it had ended.
In the interview with NBC, Blinken said Wang did not apologise
for the balloon's flight.
"I told him quite simply that that was unacceptable and can
never happen again," Blinken said, referring to the balloon's violation of
U.S. air space.
"There was no apology," he said, adding that he had
not discussed with Wang rescheduling his trip to China.
Washington had been hoping to put a "floor" under
relations that hit a dangerous low in August with China's reaction to a Taiwan
visit by then-U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
But Craig Singleton, a China expert at the Foundation for
Defense of Democracies in Washington, said while Wang's comments at the
conference were likely aimed at deflecting embarrassment over the balloon
incident, the lack of a strong response from Washington "increases China's
appetite for risk in future disputes."
"Blinken and Wang's meeting will not change the downward
trajectory in the U.S.-China relationship. It's clear there is almost no trust
between the two sides," Singleton said.
Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk, Ryan Woo, Michael Martina, Richard
Cowan, Trevor Hunnicutt, Sabine Siebold, Andrew Gray, Alexander Ratz, John
Irish, Andreas Rinke, Jonathan Landay; writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by
Alex Richardson, Diane Craft, Jonathan Oatis and William Mallard
https://www.reuters.com/world/china-swipes-hysterical-us-global-security-gathering-2023-02-18/
Ukraine war: Blinken says China may give weapons to
Russia
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64695042
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