China has warned the United States is “fanning the flames” of war with claims suggesting Beijing is planning to provide weapons to Russia. Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused the People’s Republic of China (PRC) of considering to arm Moscow to support its efforts of subjugating Ukraine. But China’s top diplomat Wang Yi rejected Blinken’s claims, counter-accusing the US of fuelling hostilities with its aggressive stance.
Wang reiterated China is committed to promoting peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv, and said they will continue to play a constructive role to help bring the war to an end.
He said: “We never accept the US’ finger-pointing or even coercion targeting China-Russia relations.
“The US, as a major country, is supposed to work for a political settlement of the crisis instead of fanning the flames or profiteering from the situation.”
Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Blinken’s warning was “reckless” and could hinder attempts to resolve the hostilities in a constructive manner.
Lü told the Global Times: “The so-called warning to China is unreasonable, reckless and meaningless, which won’t play any constructive role on the matter.”
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Despite a close alliance between China and Russia, Beijing has maintained a neutral position since the start of the war in Ukraine.
This week China will be unveiling their proposal for a “political settlement” bringing Moscow and Kyiv back to the negotiating table.
And Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov signalled Russia‘s intention to listen closely to the proposal as he announced Wang will be visiting Russia in the coming weeks.
Peskov said on Monday: “We don’t rule out a meeting between Mr Wang and President Putin.
“The agenda is clear and very extensive, so there are lots to talk about.”
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And Beijing’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin hit out at Blinken saying that the US “is in no position to make demands of China.”
He said: “China’s comprehensive collaborative partnership with Russia is based on non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of third parties, and is a matter within the sovereignty of two independent countries,
The PRC has resisted international pressure to isolate Russia following the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 but the possibility of Beijing providing weapons to Russia has sparked concerns among global players.
Blinken’s warning comes after weeks of rocketing Sino-American tensions following the shootdown of a spy balloon Washington claimed Beijing was using to collect surveillance across North America.
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Speaking to CBS on Saturday, Blinken said: “I made very clear to him that China sending its surveillance balloon over the United States in violation of our sovereignty, in violation of international law, was unacceptable and must never happen again.”
The Secretary of State cancelled a trip to Beijing earlier this month due to the balloon incident, which has become a major issue of contention between the two countries.
The PRC insists the white orb shot down off the Carolina coast on Feb. 4 was just an errant civilian airship used mainly for meteorological research that went off course due to winds and had only limited “self-steering” capabilities.
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*This story has not been edited by The Infallible staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.