President Joe Biden said he did not expect China would provide significant assistance to Russia in the form of weapons to aid Moscow in its war against Ukraine, but warned any such action would draw a US response.
(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden said he did not expect China would provide significant assistance to Russia in the form of weapons to aid Moscow in its war against Ukraine, but warned any such action would draw a US response.
“I don’t anticipate — we haven’t seen it yet — but I don’t anticipate a major initiative on the part of China providing weaponry to Russia,” Biden told ABC News in an interview Friday.
“We would respond,” Biden added.
Tensions have been simmering between Washington and Beijing over concerns China may help arm Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces waging war on Ukraine and over the lingering dispute over a Chinese balloon that the US shot down early this month.
Asked if China providing lethal arms would cross a line, Biden responded, “It would be the same line everyone else would have crossed, in other words, we will impose severe sanctions on anyone who has done that.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week that China’s government probably gave approval for Chinese companies to provided Russia non-lethal, “dual-use” support. But Blinken did not provide examples or evidence that the Chinese government has approved dual-use items which can have both military and civilian purposes.
China later said it doesn’t “offer any arms sales to conflict zones or parties involved in wars.” It then proposed a cease-fire plan that would amount to significant concessions to Russia, a move dismissed by Ukraine, the US and its allies.
“Putin’s applauding it. How could it be any good?” Biden told ABC. “I’ve seen nothing in the plan that would indicate that there is something that would be beneficial to anyone other than Russia if the Chinese plan were followed.”
Biden and Blinken have issued public warnings to Beijing about fully supporting Russia’s invasion.
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