Reiterated US' serious concern about China providing components 'powering' Russia's 'brutal' war against Ukraine: Antony Blinken

Beijing [China], April 26 : US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated serious concerns of the US about China providing components that are powering Russia's war against Ukraine.
He noted that China is the top supplier of machine tools, micro-electronics, and nitrocellulose which is critical to making ammunitions and rocket propellants that Moscow is using to ramp up its defence industrial base.
Speaking to reporters in Beijing, Blinken said, "Even as we seek to deepen cooperation, where our interest is in line, the United States is very clear about the challenges posed by the PRC (China) and about our competing visions for the future. America will always defend our core interests and values."
"In my discussions today, I reiterated our serious concern about PRC (China) providing components that are powering Russia's brutal war of aggression against Ukraine. China is the top supplier of machine tools, micro-electronics, nitrocellulose which is critical to making munitions and rocket propellants and other dual items that Moscow is using to ramp up its defence industrial base. The defence industrial base that is churning out rockets, drones, tanks and other weapons that President Putin is using to ... civilian infrastructure, to kill innocent children, women and men," he added.
Blinken noted that Russia will struggle to sustain its military action in Ukraine without the support of China. He stressed that fuelling Russia's defence industrial base threatens not only Ukrainian security but also European security.
He said, "Russia will struggle to sustain its assault on Ukraine without China's support. In my meetings with NATO allies earlier this month and our G7 partners just last week, I heard that same message, fuelling Russia's defence industrial base not only threatens Ukrainian security but also threatens European security."
Earlier in the day, Blinken held a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The meeting followed Blinken's over five-hour-long meeting with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing. The top US diplomat also met with China's Minister of Security Wang Xiaohong, who serves as the country's police chief.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson in a post on X, said, "President Xi noted that he proposed mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation to be the three overarching principles. They are both lessons learned from the past and a guide for the future."
The post further reads, "It is the shared desire of both the two peoples and the international community to see China and the US strengthen dialogue, manage differences and advance cooperation. The planet is big enough to accommodate the common development and respective prosperity of China and the US. China is happy to see a confident, open, prosperous, and thriving US. We hope the US can also look at China's development in a positive light".
He further said, "Over the past 45 years, the China-US relationship has gone through winds and rains, and it has a number of important inspirations to offer: China and the US should be partners rather than rivals; help each other succeed rather than hurt each other; seek common ground and reserve differences, rather than engage in vicious competition; and honor words with actions, rather than say one thing but do the opposite."
Blinken took to his social media handle X to post about the "in-depth and substantive meeting" today with Wang Yi.
"As part of our effort to responsibly manage competition, we discussed areas of difference, in addition to areas of shared interest -- like counternarcotics -- where we can build on progress to deliver benefits for both our peoples," Blinken said.
Wang struck a somewhat more conciliatory tone than in the past, telling the top US diplomat that "the China-US relationship is beginning to stabilize" and also warned that negative factors in the relationship were still "increasing and building," as per the New York Times report.
"I hope that we can make some progress on the issues that our presidents agreed we should cooperation on, but also clarify our differences, our intent, and make very clear to each other where we stand," Blinken responded according to the US publication.
Both China and the United States have said they were hoping for progress on a few smaller, pragmatic fronts, including improving communications between their militaries and easing travel between the two countries, the NYT reported.
Prior to Blinken's departure for China, the US State Department said that during his April 24-26 visit, he will meet with senior Chinese officials in Shanghai and Beijing to discuss a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues, including the crisis in the Middle East, Russia's war against Ukraine, cross-Strait issues, and the South China Sea. Blinken's visit follows a visit to China by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen earlier this month.