Blinken blasts China’s support for Russia, calls out Xi Jinping
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken blasted Beijing over its support of Russia after emerging from more than five hours of talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
During a meeting on the sidelines of a Group of 20 foreign ministers meeting in Bali, Indonesia, Blinken on Saturday said he told Wang that China wasn’t neutral on the Ukraine war because there’s no such thing as being neutral when there is a clear aggressor.
He cited Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent call with Russia’s Vladimir Putin as evidence of Beijing’s ongoing support of Moscow.
The exchanges were exceptionally candid and neither side held back, but they were professional in tone despite the candor, according to a senior State Department official, who asked not to be identified discussing closed-door talks.
Blinken told Wang that the US views the China relationship as largely competitive, and described what that competition means—and doesn’t mean— from the American perspective, the official said. Wang shared his thoughts on Blinken’s speech in late May laying out the Biden administration’s China policy, according to the US account.
China said the talks were constructive and may help avoid “miscalculation,” while adding that Us-chinese ties aren’t “out of the difficulties” caused by former President Donald Trump’s administration.
The statement by the Chinese embassy in Washington also warned the US against supporting Taiwanese independence, advised the US not to form “exclusive groupings” against China and said Washington shouldn’t meddle in China’s internal affairs, including on Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
Blinken said that G-20 countries urged Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who joined the meeting, to lift a blockade on grain from Ukraine to ease food shortages around the world.
Blinken said he also conveyed to Wang that now was the time for China to call on Russia to end its blockade of Ukrainian ports and allow ships to export grain.
“Now what you hear from Beijing is that it claims to be neutral,” Blinken said. “I would start with the proposition that it’s pretty hard to be neutral when it comes to this aggression. There’s a clear aggressor. There’s a clear victim.”