Blinken warns China about support for Russia

China and the US should not be rivals, says Chinese President Xi Jinping at a meeting in Beijing with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

But after the meeting, Blinken says he warned China against supporting Russia militarily.

During Friday, the US Secretary of State met Chinese President Xi Jinping and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing. Blinken’s visit to China is the second in less than a year.

Xi Jinping opened the meeting by saying that China and the United States should “seek common ground while respecting differences and not engaging in bad-tempered competition,” according to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency.

At the meeting, President Xi also said that it is possible for China and the US to “develop together and prosper separately”, that China and the US should “be partners, not rivals”.

“Supports threats”

But after the meeting Blinken chose to sharpen the tone in an interview with the British media company BBC.

Blinken said China is “helping to support the biggest threat” to European security since the Cold War. He declined to say whether the United States was ready to act against China to stop the aid.

Sino-US relations have made some progress in the months since Xi met US President Joe Biden last November, the Chinese foreign minister conceded, but said “there are still many issues that need to be resolved”.

Chinese complaints

Wang repeated complaints against the United States, including Washington’s position and stance in the South China Sea, Taiwan, human rights and China’s right to trade with any country.

Blinken, for its part, responded by emphasizing that the Biden administration places a high value on having a dialogue with Beijing, even on issues where the two disagree.