China has guaranteed the US and other nations that it will not provide Russia with deadly weapons that may be used against Ukraine, according to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on June 19.
Blinken, the highest-ranking US official to visit Beijing since President Joe Biden's inauguration in 2021, stated that there is no proof that the Chinese leadership has transported weapons or offered deadly help to Russia.
“With regard to lethal aid to Russia for use in Ukraine, we and other countries have received assurances from China that it is not and will not provide lethal assistance to Russia for use in Ukraine,” he told reporters.
Blinken noted that such guarantees had been made by Beijing "in recent weeks," not only during his visit.
The US envoy, on the other hand, expressed worry about Chinese enterprises assisting Russia with technologies that may be used against Ukraine and asked the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to be cautious.
“What we are concerned about is private companies in China that may be providing assistance, in some cases dual use, in some cases clearly directed at enhancing Russia’s military capacity in Ukraine,” he said.
“That is a concern, and it’s something that I pointed out to our Chinese counterparts and urged that they be vigilant in policing that,” Blinken added.
On June 18, Blinken met with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang before meeting with top Chinese official Wang Yi on June 19. Unlike his discussions with Qin and Wang, which lasted many hours, his conversation with Xi lasted only around 35 minutes.
The Biden administration has long concerned that the CCP may opt to provide deadly help to Russia in addition to the economic and diplomatic assistance it now provides to the Kremlin.
On February 24, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder stated that while there was no proof of China actually supplying weaponry to Russia, the CCP has not ruled it out.
Such a choice, he argued, would signal that Chinese communist officials want to completely destroy Ukraine and would unnecessarily prolong the pain and death of innocent Ukrainians.
“Broadly speaking, what you would be seeing is a country like China, which clearly has advanced capabilities and munitions, [and] which has publicly declared its neutrality, to now take a side and say ‘we want to be in the camp that’s looking to extinguish Ukraine as a nation,’” Ryder said.
“It would prolong this conflict. It would cause needless suffering among innocent Ukrainians,” he added.
