US hypes concerns over ‘China’s support for Russia’ to ‘muddy waters, shift attention’

Ahead of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s reported visit to China next week, the US has ramped up efforts hyping up “concerns” that Beijing is “helping Moscow build up its defense industrial base” in a desperate attempt to find excuses for itself when future support for Ukraine is going down the drain, experts said on Thursday.

They noted that the US’ attempts to sow discord are “meaningless” because China will cherish its highly complementary relationship with Russia.

Blinken will leave for China on April 23 for a four-day trip, Politico reported on Wednesday, citing a Washingtonbased diplomat and three US officials.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian on Thursday welcomed Blinken’s upcoming arrival at Thursday’s media briefing, but provided no further details.

Ahead of the visit, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters that the US is “incredibly concerned” about the “material transfers” from China to Russia in the past months, which Russia has used to rebuild its industrial base and produce arms that are showing up on the battlefield in Ukraine, Reuters reported.

“The Biden administration is facing a dilemma on the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Withdrawal of support for Ukraine now means betraying its own commitments and allies,” said Lü Xiang, a research fellow of US studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

As a result, they are trying to muddy the waters to extricate themselves by blaming the US’ failure on China’s “support” for Russia, Lü said.

China is not a party to the conflict, said the expert, pointing out that as long as the US refrains from adding fuel to the fire, China can facilitate dialogue and reconciliation between the conflicting parties. It is hoped that the US can abandon the idea of completely defeating Russia in all aspects as Russia’s existence is a fundamental aspect of the balance of power in a multipolar world. “It’s probably more important for the US to never expect China to become a party to containing Russia,” Lü said.