Could Beijing come out of its neutrality in the conflict in Ukraine? The United States is “convinced” that China plans to supply weapons to Russia in its war against its neighbor.
“We are convinced that the Chinese leadership is considering supplying lethal material” to Russia, CIA chief William Burns said in a rare interview with CBS broadcast on Sunday. But, added the director of the American intelligence agency, “we have not seen that a final decision has been made” and “we have not seen evidence that they have delivered” weapons to the Russia.
The United States has been engaged in a major diplomatic offensive for a week, warning China against lethal military support for Russia, which experts say would be a game-changer in this conflict, which has entered its second year and without settlement. in sight. Beijing has strongly denied these allegations.
According to press reports, including those from the Wall Street Journal and the NBC channel citing unidentified officials, it would be for China to provide drones and ammunition in particular. A Chinese company plans to start production of “prowling” drones for the Russian army for possible use to strike targets in Ukraine, German weekly Der Spiegel reported on Friday.
To further drive the point home, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan made the rounds on television this Sunday to ensure that the United States remained “vigilant” in this regard. He reaffirmed Washington’s warning to Beijing of the “consequences” of such a supply of arms.
This would generate “real costs”
“We will continue to send a firm message that sending military aid to Russia at this time (…) would be a big mistake and China should not take part,” he told CNN. . According to him, the war in Ukraine poses “serious complications” for the Chinese but if Beijing decides to take the plunge and supply arms to Moscow, it would generate “real costs” for it.
Washington refuses to detail what these “costs” would be but has a wide range of sanctions capable of hitting the Chinese economy. President Joe Biden had himself indicated in an interview on ABC on Friday that he had had a conversation on this subject with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, discussing the consequences of such support, recalling that the war in Ukraine had led to the withdrawal of many companies in Russia. “It is not a threat” but a fact, he told the Chinese president.
During a virtual summit on Friday, the leaders of the G7 countries also threatened “severe costs” for countries that would come to the aid of Russia in order to circumvent Western sanctions.
This war is a delicate matter for Beijing, because of its strong diplomatic and economic ties with Moscow, consolidated by the common interest of counterbalancing Washington. China had so far refrained from taking a position on the Russian invasion. She put forward a 12-point document on Friday in which she urges the two belligerents to dialogue, insists on respect for territorial integrity and opposes any recourse to nuclear weapons.
As for the Republican opposition to President Biden, it was also worried about possible Chinese aid to Russia, with Taiwan in its sights, an island whose sovereignty Beijing claims. “It may be Ukraine today but it will be Taiwan tomorrow. This is why this is very important,” said the Republican leader of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives, Michael McCaul, on the ABC channel.