China offering ‘lethal support’ to Russia in struggle in opposition to Ukraine: Antony Blinken

Antony Blinken and Wang Yi, the Chinese Communist Party’s senior-most international coverage official, held hourlong talks in Munich on Saturday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (File Photo)

By Press Trust of India: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned China that offering “lethal support” for Russia’s struggle in opposition to Ukraine can have “serious consequences” on bilateral ties between the 2 international locations and asserted Beijing’s balloon incursion “must never happen again.”

Blinken and Wang Yi, the Chinese Communist Party’s senior-most international coverage official, held hourlong talks in Munich on Saturday, the place they have been attending a global safety convention, in response to the US State Department.

The two high-profile diplomats met of their first high-level contact because the US shot down an alleged Chinese spy balloon a fortnight in the past.

“I made very clear to him that China sending a surveillance balloon over the US, in violation of our sovereignty, in violation of international law, was unacceptable, and must never happen again,” Blinken advised CBS News in an interview.

His spokesman, Ned Price, mentioned Blinken additionally advised the Chinese diplomat that his nation’s “high-altitude surveillance balloon programme — which has intruded into the airspace of more than 40 countries across five continents — was exposed to the world.”

The balloon incident prompted Blinken to postpone a deliberate go to to Beijing.

The February 5-6 journey would have been the primary by a US secretary of state to China in 5 years and was seen by each international locations as a chance to stabilise their strained ties.

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During Saturday’s assembly, Blinken additionally raised the Russia-Ukraine struggle with Wang.

“There were concerns that China was considering providing lethal support to Russia in its war against Ukraine. I was able to share with him, as President Biden had shared with President Xi, the serious consequences that would have for our relationship,” Blinken mentioned.

He additionally underscored the significance of sustaining diplomatic dialogue and open traces of communication always.

“Finally, it was important for me to underscore that we believe having lines of communication, engaging in direct diplomacy, is very important. We have a responsibility to manage our relationship in a responsible manner,” he added.

The two diplomats might meet once more in New Delhi subsequent month on the sidelines of the G-20 Foreign Ministers assembly.

The assembly between the 2 senior officers got here hours after Wang renewed Beijing’s criticism of the US for taking pictures down what Washington says was a Chinese spy balloon, arguing on the convention in Germany that the transfer would not level to US energy.

“The actions don’t show that the US is big and strong, but describe the exact opposite,” Wang defined.

“This is actually a political farce created by the US. We have categorically told them that this is a civilian unmanned airship. Due to the influence of the super westerly winds and its limited control ability, it deviated from the planned path and entered the skies over the US. We have asked them to work with China and handle it properly in a rational, calm and professional manner,” Xinhua information company quoted Wang as saying.

After delivering the keynote speech on the Munich Security Conference, Wang advised the Chinese media that everybody is worried about how the current balloon incident has strained Sino-US relations.

“Regrettably, the US ignored the basic facts and brazenly dispatched fighter planes to shoot down a non-threatening airship with missiles. This behaviour is unbelievable, almost hysterical, and a 100 per cent abuse of force, which clearly violates international conventions,” he added.

Wang urged Washington to indicate sincerity, appropriate its errors and resolve the injury brought about to Sino-US relations as a result of this incident.

Published On:

Feb 19, 2023