US President Joe Biden is pressuring his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, on Russia’s support
Key figures for a war half a world away, US President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping spoke for nearly two hours as the White House sought to deter Beijing from providing military or economic assistance to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Key points:
- US President Joe Biden says China will face “implications and consequences” if Beijing provides material support to Russia
- China accuses the United States of provoking Russia and fueling the conflict by sending weapons to Ukraine
- According to Chinese President Xi Jinping, relations between China and the United States have not yet “emerged from the dilemma created by the former US administration.”
China’s foreign ministry was the first to broadcast a reading of the video call, lamenting “conflict and confrontation” as “not in anyone’s interest”, without blaming Russia.
A White House statement followed, saying Mr Biden had described the “implications and consequences” for Xi if Beijing provided material support to Russia when it attacked Ukrainian cities and civilians.
“The president underlined his support for a diplomatic solution to the crisis,” the White House said in a statement.
“The two leaders also agreed on the importance of maintaining open lines of communication in order to steer competition between our two countries.”
Prior to the call, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Mr Biden would question Mr Xi about Beijing’s “rhetorical support” for Mr Putin and an “absence of condemnation” of Russia’s invasion.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying withdrew, calling the US administration’s proposal that China risks falling on the wrong side of history “overbearing”.
The planning of the leaders’ discussion had been underway since Mr Biden and Mr Xi held a virtual summit in November, but disagreements between Washington and Beijing over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s three-week war in Ukraine were expected to be at the center. of the call.
On Friday, China also sought to highlight its calls for negotiations and its donations of humanitarian aid, while accusing the United States of provoking Russia and fueling the conflict by sending weapons to Ukraine.
Xi reiterated China’s criticism of sanctions imposed on Russia in connection with the invasion, according to Chinese state media.
As before, Mr. Xi did not use the terms war or invasion to describe Russia’s actions.
A full relationship
Relations between the United States and China, which have long been strained, have only become more strained since the beginning of Mr. Biden’s presidency.
Sir. Biden has repeatedly criticized China for military provocations against Taiwan, human rights violations against ethnic minorities, and efforts to suppress pro-democracy advocates in Hong Kong.
But relations may have reached a new low with the Russian invasion.
In the days after Mr Putin deployed Russian forces in Ukraine, Mr Xi’s government tried to distance itself from Russia’s offensive, but avoided criticizing Moscow.
At other times, Beijing’s actions have been provocative and have included a reinforcement of unconfirmed Russian claims that Ukraine operates chemical and biological weapons laboratories with US support.
Earlier this week, the United States informed Asian and European allies that the US intelligence service had stated that China had signaled to Russia that it would be willing to provide both military support for the campaign in Ukraine and financial support to help avert the impact of Severe sanctions. imposed by the West.
On Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated that the Biden administration remained concerned that China was considering supplying military equipment to Russia.
He said Mr Biden would make it clear to Mr Xi, “that China will take responsibility for any action it takes to support Russia’s aggression and we will not hesitate to impose costs”.
China warns US must deal with Taiwan “correctly”
As a reminder of China’s threat to assert its claim on Taiwan by force, the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong sailed through the Strait of Taiwan on Friday, just hours before the two presidents’ calls, Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said.
“The National Army’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems are in full possession of the movements of Chinese ships in the sea and aircraft in the airspace around the Taiwan Strait to protect national security,” the ministry said in a statement.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said he had no details about the ship’s passage through the strait, but added that he believed “the company has its routine training plan and it should not be linked to the communication between Chinese and US leaders”. .
State media quoted Mr Xi as saying that relations between China and the United States had not yet “emerged from the dilemma created by the former US administration, but instead faced more and more challenges”, highlighting Taiwan as a special area of dispute .
“If the Taiwan issue is not handled properly, it will have an undermining effect on the relationship between the two countries,” Mr Xi reportedly told Mr Biden.
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AP