Blinken blasts China’s support for Russia

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.

For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.

Blinken also said that G-20 countries urged Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who joined the meeting, to lift a blockade on grain from Ukraine to ease foot shortages around the world.

The US diplomat 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 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.”

Blinken also said China’s support for Russia was evident at the UN and in Chinese state media’s amplification of Russian propaganda. He also cited Xi’s decision to announce a “no limits partnership” with Putin “while Russia was massing its forces.”

Blinken also said he and Wang “addressed areas of disagreement and ways to manage and reduce risks while bringing up contentious issues like tensions in the Taiwan Strait, Hong Kong’s democracy and allegations of forced labor in Xinjiang.”

“The United States wants our channels of communication with Beijing to continue to remain open,” Blinken said.

Blinken also pushed back against the idea that Wang’s two-week trip through the region suggested that China was more committed to engagement with Southeast Asia.

“What we’re about is not asking countries to choose, but giving them a choice when it comes to things like investment in infrastructure,” he said, adding that America wanted to engage in a “race to the top, not the bottom.”

Read more:

China demands end to US-Taiwan military ‘collusion’