US AND CHINA OFFICIALS TO MEET AS TENSION MOUNTS
President Joe Biden is sending his national security adviser for talks with a senior Chinese official in Rome on Monday as concerns grow that China is amplifying Russian disinformation in the Ukraine war and may help Russia evade punishment from economic sanctions.
The talks between national security adviser Jake Sullivan and senior Chinese foreign policy adviser Yang Jiechi will center on "efforts to manage the competition between our two countries and discuss the impact of Russia's war against Ukraine on regional and global security," said Emily Horne, speaking for the White House national security council.
The White House has accused Beijing of spreading false Russian claims that Ukraine was running chemical and biological weapons labs with U.S. support. U.S. officials said China was attempting to provide cover for a potential biological or chemical weapons attack on Ukrainians by the Russian military.
Sullivan said on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that when Russia starts accusing other countries of preparing to launch biological or chemical attacks, "it's a good tell that they may be on the cusp of doing it themselves."
He also said China and other countries should not try to help Russia work
around the sanctions and the U.S. has made it clear that other countries should not bail out the Russian economy. "We will ensure that neither China nor anyone else can compensate Russia for these losses," Sullivan said.
The striking accusations about Russian disinformation and Chinese complicity came after Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova alleged with no evidence that the U.S. was financing Ukrainian chemical and biological weapons labs.
The Russian claim was echoed by Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, who claimed there were 26 bio-labs and related facilities in "which the U.S. Department of Defense has absolute control." The United Nations has said it has received no information backing up such accusations.